MODEM

Meaning

A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa and allows computers to communicate over a phone line.

• verbTo transmit by modem.

MODEM as a word-puzzle answer

MODEM is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, E) and 3 consonants (M, D, M). It repeats 1 letter, which is a classic trap — guessers who assume five distinct letters get stuck.

It leans on high-frequency letters (O, E), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. There are no rare letters here, so it is a fair, mid-difficulty answer for the daily Classic puzzle.