A landline is a telephone that connects to the phone network through a physical wire or cable, usually running into your house through the wall. Unlike a cell phone that uses radio waves to connect wirelessly, a landline stays in one place, plugged into the wall.

For much of the 1900s, landlines were the main way many people could make phone calls. Many homes had at least one phone with a cord, often attached to the kitchen wall or sitting on a table. If you wanted to call a friend, you had to be wherever the phone was installed. Many families had one phone number that everyone shared.

Landlines became less common after cell phones were invented because people preferred the freedom to make calls from anywhere. Today, many households have given up their landlines entirely and rely only on cell phones. However, some businesses and families still keep landlines because the connection quality is often clearer and more reliable than cell phones, especially during emergencies when cell networks might be overloaded. Unlike cell phones, some landline phones don't need to be charged and can work even during a power outage if they're the old-fashioned kind that get their power directly from the phone line.

When older relatives talk about “calling someone” when they were young, they mean using a landline, sometimes one that several families in the neighborhood shared, called a party line.