English

Alternative forms

• 800

Noun

1-800

1. (Canada, US) A toll-free number or a long-distance telephone numbers; using any of North American toll-free area codes 800, 888, 877, 866, or 855.

   866-555-1234... that's a 1-800 number, isn't it?

   • 1994, Bill Clinton, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, William J. Clinton

     FEMA has got a 1-800 number.

   • 1999, 106-1 Hearing

     We provided a 1-800 hot line and a new food stamp tool kit which I would also like to provide for the record.

   • 2001, David Wade, Ron Recardo, Corporate Performance Management

     Exhibit 9.2 represents a 1-800 customer ordering process.

   • 2001, Mark Graham, The Third Day

     Once when her husband had got a 1-800 number she used to get calls from all sorts of lonely weirdos who had nothing better to do late at night than call up people they didn't know.

   • 2002, Elaine Dundon, The Seeds of Innovation

     Many people have profited from providing easy services that others do not like to do, such as a simple service like barbeque cleaning, superscoopers for cleaning up after dogs, an errand service, or a 1-800 tele-tutor service for school-age children who need assistance with their homework.

   • 2003, Bambi Vincent And Bob Arno, Travel Advisory!: How to Avoid Thefts, Cons, and Street Scams While Traveling

     “I got a 1-800 number. I could check your credit card right now, and get an approval code, or find out if it's stolen or not. Just dial a 1-800 number and deal with computers."

Synonyms

• 1-800 number (North America)
• 0800 number (UK)
• 0500 number (UK, rarely used)
• 0808 number (UK, rarely used)
• Freefone number (UK)
• toll-free number (North America)