from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
pager \pag"er\, n.
A small electronic communication device which signals when a
telephone call has been received at a base station. Each such
device receives radio signals from the base station
specifically coded for the individual to whom it is
registered; the signal given by the device to the registered
user may be a beeping sound, indicating that the user should
call the base station to receive a message; or it may display
a telephone number to which the user may call directly to
return the incoming call, or may display a short message.
Such devices are small enough to carry in the pocket or
pocketbook, or to clip onto a belt or other part of the
clothing. Also called {beeper}.
[PJC]
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
pager
beeper
bleeper
1. <hardware, communications> (Or "beeper", "bleeper" (UK?))
A small wireless receiver that, when triggered (generally via
phone), will beep or vibrate (un)pleasantly. The wearer will
have been trained to respond to this signal by looking at a
small screen on the device for an unimportant message.
In recent years, pagers have grown more complex, allowing for
long {alphanumeric} messages to be received and scrolled
though (as opposed to earlier models, which supported only
short numeric messages); at the same time as pager functions
are integrated into some {PDAs}. If this trend continues, the
distinction between {PDAs} and high-end {pagers} will
disappear.
{Short Message Service} allows a mobile phone to display a
message, just like an alphanumeric pager.
2. <tool> A program for viewing a {text file} a screenful at a
time via a text {terminal}, as opposed to scrolling through it
in a {GUI} window, or {cat}ting it all at once to the
terminal.
The best known pagers are {more}, {less}, pg and list.com.
(1997-09-11)