phone tag

noun

Examples of phone tag in a Sentence

“Have you talked to your sister about the party yet?” “No, we've been playing phone tag all week.”
Recent Examples on the Web The exes play phone tag before Mindy informs a melancholy Gabriel that Emily is relocating to Rome. Samantha Stutsman, Peoplemag, 17 Sep. 2024 During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday, Paul Giamatti was asked about playing a bizarre game of phone tag with the Goddess of Pop. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2024 Paul Giamatti is playing phone tag with the Goddess of Pop. Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 8 Feb. 2024 Coordinating the boats and other donation sites is a massive task that involves maddening games of phone tag in a place largely without cell service and requires a relentless dedication and extensive Rolodex. Reis Thebault, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2023 More importantly, though, the survey indicated that 61% of respondents felt frustrated by the phone tag resulting from having to hop between multiple agents via multiple transfers. Halvard Totland, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023 One patient said she’s spent the last week playing phone tag to get the results of blood work done in response to her high white blood cell count. Marion Renault, STAT, 23 May 2021 Brief Facetime calls — and the ensuing phone tag that results from distance and a time difference — are not enough. K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 27 Nov. 2022 Over a frantic week, officials played phone tag, seeking to know more about the probe, the people said. Bloomberg.com, 30 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'phone tag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1984, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of phone tag was in 1984

Dictionary Entries Near phone tag

Cite this Entry

“Phone tag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phone%20tag. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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