public-address system

noun

variants or public address system
: an apparatus including a microphone and loudspeakers used for broadcasting (as to an audience in an auditorium)

called also PA, PA system

Examples of public-address system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The latest episode of Evil includes an extended scene, set on on a plane going through turbulence, which features a) a demonic relic, b) a ghost pilot, c) disturbingly otherworldly transmissions through the aircraft’s public-address system. Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 20 June 2024 The company’s greatest hits spotlighted Tiger Woods’s marital meltdown and the JetBlue flight attendant who quit his job by shouting obscenities over a plane’s public-address system, grabbing a beer from the galley, and sliding down the plane’s emergency chute. IEEE Spectrum, 31 Jan. 2012 These needed to be kept at a distance from exploding pyrotechnics and angled away from the blare of the stadium’s public-address system. Jody Rosen, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2023 In train stations, and subway stations, a voice over the public-address system makes an announcement, routinely. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 13 Jan. 2023 See all Example Sentences for public-address system 

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of public-address system was in 1917

Dictionary Entries Near public-address system

Cite this Entry

“Public-address system.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/public-address%20system. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

public-address system

noun
: a set of equipment including microphone and loudspeakers used for broadcasting to a large audience in an auditorium or out of doors

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