From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanswering machineˈanswering maˌchine (also answerphone British English /ˈɑːnsəfəʊn $ ˈænsərfoʊn/) noun [countable] TCTa machine that records your telephone calls when you cannot answer them
Examples from the Corpus
answering machine• Vegh was the whole staff, assisted by his answering machine and his MacIntosh computer in his University Heights studio apartment.• Did you leave a message on my answering machine?• Then I came into the office to check the answering machine.• I sat down in my swivel chair and propped my feet up, punching the replay button on the answering machine.• He was either out and hadn't switched on the answering machine or he was tormenting her by ignoring the telephone.From Longman Business Dictionaryanswering machineˈanswering maˌchineOFFICE a machine connected to a telephone which records your telephone messages when you are not able to answer the telephoneSYNANSWERPHONEIf I’m not in, leave a message on my answering machine. → machine 