Skip to main content
Language Foundation

SMS

SMS, short for Short Message Service, is a telecommunications service for sending and receiving short text messages between mobile phones and other compatible devices.

In plain English

This is the mobile text-messaging service used to send and receive brief written messages. It works between mobile phones and other devices that can use the same service. The term names the service itself, not a particular message.

In context

Here, SMS denotes a multifactor code-delivery method that uses short text messages sent through that telecommunications service.

Situation
Setting passwords, multifactor authentication, recovery codes, and trusted devices
What it communicates
labels a code-delivery method in the multifactor options list

Meaning limits

By itself, the term identifies only the text-messaging service, not the content or purpose of any message sent through it.

Examples

“The one-time code arrived by SMS during the second sign-in step.”

Core meaning

“At the second sign-in step, he chose SMS for the one-time code.”

In context

  • telecommunications service Broader Term

    SMS belongs to this wider category of communication services.

  • text message Alternate Sense

    A different reading refers to an individual message rather than the service itself.