How to Use answering machine in a Sentence

answering machine

noun
  • I haven't spoken to him yet, but he left a message on my answering machine.
  • This is back in the day of answering machines.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
  • This was in the days of answering machines.
    — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
  • If no one is present, a message can be left on the answering machine.
    — courant.com, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The voice mail greeting on his answering machine said it was turned off.
    — John Reinan, Star Tribune, 1 Aug. 2020
  • That scene on the answering machine?
    — Emily Longeretta, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
  • My parents called the parents of the boy across the street and played them the answering machine tape.
    — Emily Meg Weinstein, Longreads, 20 Apr. 2018
  • After an hour-long drive home, there were two messages on my answering machine.
    — Gary Trust, Billboard, 19 Dec. 2019
  • There also is an answering machine taking calls at all times.
    — Roxanne Washington, cleveland, 5 Oct. 2019
  • After a few rings, her old school answering machine answered.
    — Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2021
  • Your father leaves a message on your answering machine inviting you to a whisky evening.
    — Molly Aitken, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
  • In some cases, people get an answering machine or a busy signal.
    — Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Apr. 2018
  • Don’t click on links in the message, or call phone numbers that are left on your answering machine, either.
    — baltimoresun.com, 27 Aug. 2019
  • Mark McGrath calls his ex, gets her answering machine, begs her to come back.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 10 Sep. 2021
  • My mom telling me [on the answering machine] to 'pick up, pick up' because my grandpa had had a heart attack.
    — Elizabeth Leonard, Peoplemag, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Her parents weren’t home, so Kristin left a voicemail on their answering machine.
    — Dateline Nbc, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Wordless messages were left on my answering machine, but those ended after a few days.
    — Hiromi Kawakami, The New Yorker, 3 July 2023
  • Stanke says his greatest discovery came through the answering machine tapes.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 13 Dec. 2021
  • For anyone old enough to have owned an answering machine, this is a delightful throwback.
    — Heather Kelly, Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2023
  • Late that evening, Noone arrived home to find a message on his answering machine from the police.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
  • One of the Janes had an early version of an answering machine that was kept in someone’s closet on a reel-to-reel.
    — Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 14 May 2022
  • Berry, who is now eighty-four, does not own a computer or a cell phone, and his landline is not connected to an answering machine.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 29 May 2019
  • Jamie's answering machine recording sounded like a snowglobe or music box was in the background.
    — Rosie Knight, refinery29.com, 1 June 2021
  • Snail mail has gone the way of folding maps, modems, floppy disks, video tapes, answering machines, pay phones, typewriters, pagers and books.
    — Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2018
  • People taped posters to telephone poles with tearaway numbers, and left messages on answering machines!
    — Jason Gay, WSJ, 8 June 2018
  • Instead, the messages went to an answering machine at an off-site leasing office, Matkom said.
    — Everett Eaton, jsonline.com, 16 Feb. 2026
  • And … the answering machine had actually been unplugged … so those messages were not there.
    — CBS News, 24 Sep. 2022
  • As a reporter was leaving a message on her answering machine, O’Dell picked up.
    — Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 14 June 2024
  • There are no cellphones, the soundtrack is peppered with tunes from the era and a major plot point hinges on the family getting an answering machine.
    — Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 19 May 2026
  • When those first morning calls started coming in 1987, his answering machine broke.
    — Sarah Brookbank, The Enquirer, 21 Apr. 2021

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

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