0 a device connected to a phone that answers calls automatically and records messages from the person calling:
1 a device connected to a telephone that answers the telephone automatically and records messages
2 a piece of equipment connected to a phone which answers the phone automatically and records messages:
In late 1987, there was a message on the answering machine in my constituency office from a constituent who was obviously distressed.
However, if people ring through to an answering machine, they will not feel that their concerns are being adequately attended to.
When she rang for the ambulance, for 15 minutes she was connected to an answering machine asking her to hold.
I hope that the answering machine gave a number that she could have rung to obtain out-of-hours advice.
At best, they get an answering machine message and, at worst, nothing at all.
Her father died while she was connected to that answering machine.
Outside these hours the hotline works on an answering machine.
In a relatively brief period, the telephone answering machine, for many, is no longer a novelty, rather it is an accepted tool which is difficult to live without.
