Okuzeka
Business English vocabulary · Phone and Video Calls

Background noise

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˈbækɡraʊnd ˌnɔɪz/nounCommon term

In business english, background noise means: Sounds around a speaker, such as traffic, typing or other people talking, that make a call or recording harder to hear.

In Turkish: arka plan gürültüsü, ortam gürültüsü

How it is used

Common on calls: 'There's a lot of background noise', 'Could everyone mute to cut background noise?' Many apps have noise cancellation. Joining from a café or a train usually means background noise.

Example sentences

  1. There's a lot of background noise on your line. Are you in the car?

  2. Please mute yourselves when you're not speaking to reduce background noise.

Common collocations

  • a lot of background noise
  • reduce background noise
  • background noise cancellation
  • pick up background noise
  • muteTo switch off your own microphone, or someone else's, on a call so that the others cannot hear any sound from it.
  • speak upTo speak more loudly so that others can hear you; also, to say openly what you think, especially about a problem.
  • break upOn a phone or video call, to sound unclear or cut in and out because of a weak signal or a poor internet connection.
  • catchTo hear or understand what someone says; usually used in the negative when you missed a word, a name or a number.

More terms: Phone and Video Calls

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: