payphone
/ˈpeɪˌfoʊn/noun
payphone is spelled P-A-Y-P-H-O-N-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 61,481st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, payphone means “A public telephone that requires prepayment to operate, generally via the insertion of coins or a credit card” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of payphone is payphones.
How many letters and syllables are in payphone?
| Letters | 8: P-A-Y-P-H-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 61,481st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is payphone?
Payphone appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 61,481st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce payphone?
- US /ˈpeɪˌfoʊn/
Payphone has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with payphone
Also written: pay phone (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with payphone?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as payphone (/eɪfoʊn/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hypopnea.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of payphone
- payphones plural
- pay phone
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does payphone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A public telephone that requires prepayment to operate, generally via the insertion of coins or a credit card.
I only had ten cents in my pocket, so I couldn't use the payphone to call a cab.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Payphone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a public telephone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Münztelefon, Münzfernsprecher |
| Portuguese | orelhão |
| Spanish | teléfono público |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does payphone come from?
From pay + phone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).