A telephone line running to two or more homes. Each subscriber on a party line is assigned a distinct ringing signal to indicate which incoming calls are for them (e.g. a long ring followed by two short rings). Party lines are more economical to install than private lines and were often used in rural systems where one line could serve up to twenty farms.
A central office line serving more than one customer.
In telephone systems, an arrangement in which two or more user end instruments, usually telephones, are connected to the same loop.
A single telephone circuit connecting two or more subscribers within the exchange.
"Party Line" is the eighth episode of the Super Mario World cartoon.
In politics, the line or the party line is an idiom for a political party or social movement's agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organization's partisanship. The common phrase "toeing the party line" describes a person who speaks in a manner that conforms to their political party's agenda. Likewise, a "party line vote" is one in which most or all of the legislators from each political party voted in accordance with that party's policies.
In older telephone systems, a party line (also multiparty line or Shared Service Line) is an arrangement in which two or more customers are connected directly to the same local loop. Prior to World War II in the United States, party lines were the primary way residential subscribers acquired local phone service. When the line is in use, if any of the other subscribers to that line pick up the phone, they can hear and participate in the conversation.