Definition of "modem"

modem

/ˈməʊdəm/

noun
plural modems
1. (computing) A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa, allowing computers to communicate over a phone line.
  Quotations
  Choose and rent, over PC and modem and fiber-optic line, from tens of thousands of second-run films, documentaries, the occasional sport, old beloved non—‘Happy Days’ programs, wholly new programs, cultural stuff, and c. […]
  1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, page 416
verb
third-person singular simple present modems, present participle modeming or modemming, simple past and past participle modemed or modemmed
1. To transmit by modem.
  Quotations
  Personal modeming is most prevalent in the U.S., where a modem generally doesn't have huge taxes slapped on it, and after-tax income is comparatively high.
  1992, Jim Kimble, How to get started with modems, page 73
  “Books” can even be faxed or modemed to you!
  1994, Carole Marsh, Jurassic Ark! Alaska Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures, page 7
  He had to modem in to the agency and say that there was an emergency […]
  1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, page 19