phone in

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phone in (third-person singular simple present phones in, present participle phoning in, simple past and past participle phoned in)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To deliver a message by telephone when etiquette demands the effort and respect conveyed by communication in person.

   Synonym: call in

   Please give us the courtesy of showing up instead of phoning in.

   Please give us the courtesy of delivering it in person instead of phoning it in.

2. (intransitive) To make a telephone call to a broadcasting station, especially to participate in a program being aired.

   Synonym: call in

   We've got Brian phoning in from Phoenix. Brian, you're on the air.

3. (transitive, intransitive, idiomatic, figurative) To fulfill a responsibility with a minimum effort rather than the appropriate level of effort.

   Coordinate terms: (transitive) half-ass, shortchange, underdo; (intransitive) cut corners, skimp, slack off

   phone it in

   He thought he could phone in the scheduling process, but it takes sharp negotiations around here.

   He thought he could phone it in. [pronoun antecedent: the scheduling process]

   We're sick of Alice's attitude. She's been phoning it in ever since Bob left. [pronoun antecedent: notional: either "her job" or undefined]

   • 1998 January 12, “It's All About Timing”, in TIME:

     But here was someone who could have been paid regally for just phoning it in for another year or two willing instead to throw that all away

   • 2000 April 26, Candy Sagon, “All Talk, No Cooking”, in Washington Post:

     his new show with Julia Child -- "Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home" on WMPT Channel 22 -- is a clever marketing stroke, but at times both of these veteran teachers seem to be phoning it in.

   • 2008 October 6, “Getting Offensive; How Will Voters Respond?”, in ABC GMA:

     And I think our campaign put a lot more on the line, frankly, to try to solve that problem than Senator Obama, who tried to phone it in.

4. (transitive) To make an unseemly, timid performance; to be restrained and timid when bold action is called for.