busy signal: Meaning and Definition of

bus'y sig"nal

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a regular succession of buzzing tones transmitted to a caller to indicate that the circuit serving the number is blocked or in use, rapid repetition indicating that the network is blocked and normal repetition that the telephone being called is in use.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.