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Phrase: Handset

Definition:

On a telephone, the handset is a device the user holds to the ear to hear audio. Modern handsets typically contain a microphone as well, but in early telephones the microphone was mounted on the phone itself, which often was attached to a wall at a convenient height for talking. Handsets on such phones were called receivers, a term often applied to modern handsets. Until the advent of the cordless telephone, the handset was usually wired to the base unit, typically by highly flexible tinsel wire. A cordless phone uses a radio transceiver for the handset, and a radio transceiver for the base station. On a mobile telephone, the entire unit is a radio transceiver that communicates through a remote base station.