pager1

[pey-jer] /ˈpeɪ dʒər/
noun
1.
something, as a book or brochure, having a specified number of pages (usually used in combination):
Her latest report was a 12-pager.
Origin
1965-70; page1 + -er1

pager2

[pey-jer] /ˈpeɪ dʒər/
noun
1.
beeper (def 3).
Origin
1965-70; page3 + -er1
Examples from the web for pager
  • The latest fix is based, surprisingly, on one of the oldest wireless communication systems around: the pager.
  • First they alert the ambulance teams, who are summoned by pager.
  • Onshore, whenever his pager summons him, he hops in his pickup truck and answers the call.
  • These can be read as text on the pager or heard through a voice synthesizer.
  • For service technicians it might be nothing more than a display on a pager that tells them where to drive next.
  • He chose not to relay the message by fax or two-way pager, nor did he pick up the phone.
  • You're soaking up rays at the beach when a beep prompts you to pull out your pager.
  • Each page is transmitted only in the pager's vicinity, and each is acknowledged by the pager itself.
  • Joe had his pager in his back pocket so he could hold on to his buffet tray.
British Dictionary definitions for pager

pager

/ˈpeɪdʒə/
noun
1.
a small electronic device, capable of receiving short messages; usually carried by people who need to be contacted urgently (e.g. doctors)
Word Origin and History for pager
n.

"device that emits a signal when activated by a telephone call," 1968, agent noun from page (v.1).

pager in Culture

pager definition


A wireless device that, when activated, signals the bearer to contact either a predetermined party or the party indicated on the device itself. Often called a beeper for the annoying beeps some pagers use to alert their owner.

pager in Technology


1. (Or "beeper", "bleeper" (UK?)) A small wireless receiver that, when triggered (generally via phone), will beep or vibrate (un)pleasantly. The wearer will have been trained to respond to this signal by looking at a small screen on the device for an unimportant message.
In recent years, pagers have grown more complex, allowing for long alphanumeric messages to be received and scrolled though (as opposed to earlier models, which supported only short numeric messages); at the same time as pager functions are integrated into some PDAs. If this trend continues, the distinction between PDAs and high-end pagers will disappear.
Short Message Service allows a mobile phone to display a message, just like an alphanumeric pager.
2. A program for viewing a text file a screenful at a time via a text terminal, as opposed to scrolling through it in a GUI window, or catting it all at once to the terminal.
The best known pagers are more, less, pg and list.com.
(1997-09-11)