Wireless means operating without physical wires or cables. A wireless device sends and receives information through invisible signals traveling through the air, using radio waves, infrared light, or other forms of electromagnetic energy.

Your family's WiFi router creates a wireless network that lets laptops, tablets, and phones connect to the internet without plugging anything in. Wireless headphones receive audio signals from your device through Bluetooth technology instead of through a cord. A wireless doorbell sends a signal from the button at your door to the chime inside your house, even though they're not connected by any visible wires.

The invention of wireless communication transformed how people live and work. Before wireless technology, telephones needed cords, computers had to plug directly into networks, and radios couldn't be portable. Today, wireless technology lets you video chat with relatives across the country, listen to music while walking around, or use a tablet anywhere in your home.

As a noun, wireless can also mean a radio. When someone says a device works wirelessly, they mean it communicates or gets power without being physically connected to anything.