Meaning & use
megaphone
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Meanings
nouncountable
A cone-shaped device that makes your voice louder so it can be heard far away.
Grammar: Countable; you hold it to your mouth and speak into it.
Patterns
- speak through a megaphone
- use a megaphone
The coach shouted instructions through a megaphone.
She used a megaphone to address the crowd at the rally.
The megaphone made his voice echo across the field.
nouncountablefigurative
A person, organization, or medium that makes opinions or messages heard by many people.
Grammar: Often used in phrases like 'a megaphone for'.
Patterns
- a megaphone for something
- serve as a megaphone for someone
The newspaper became a megaphone for the protest movement.
Social media can act as a megaphone for extreme views.
The senator used the committee as a megaphone for his policies.
Word forms
| plural | megaphones |
|---|
Common combinations
- speak through a megaphone
- The police officer spoke through a megaphone to the crowd.
- shout into a megaphone
- He shouted into the megaphone so everyone could hear.
- a megaphone for
- The blog became a megaphone for environmental activism.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bullhorn
- A hand-held electric megaphone; more common in American English.
- loudhailer
- A British term for an electronic megaphone, often used by police or at sea.
Commonly confused: megaphone or microphone?
megaphone vs microphone
A microphone picks up sound and sends it to a speaker or recorder; a megaphone makes your voice louder directly.
Practice
The protest leader used a ______ to make her voice carry across the square.
Choose one answer.
A megaphone amplifies the voice so it can be heard at a distance; a microphone captures sound but does not amplify it by itself, a telephone is for communication, and headphones are for listening.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “megaphone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.