Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) was used to measure the absorption cross section of phenyl radicals (C6H5 center dot) at 504.8 nm (B-2(1) <- (2)A(1) transition) in the nitrogen atmosphere at 40 Torr total pressure and 298 K using nitrosobenzene (C6H5NO) as the radical precursor. At 504.8 nm, the absorption cross section was measured to be sigma(504.8nm)(phenyl) = (5.7 +/- 1.4) x 10(-19) cm(2) molecule(-1). The absorption cross section was independent of the total pressure range (40-200 Torr) over which it was studied with a precursor concentration of (4-5) x 10(13) molecules cm(-3). In addition to this, the absolute rate coefficients for the reaction of phenyl radicals with methanol were measured over the temperature range of 263-298 K and at 40 Torr pressure with N-2 using CRDS. The temperature-dependent rate coefficient for the title reaction over the studied temperature range was obtained to be k(263-298)(experiement) K (T) = (1.38 +/- 0.60) x 10(-11) exp [-(1764 +/- 321)/T] cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) with a rate coefficient of k(T) = (3.50 +/- 0.32) x 10(-14) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) at 298 K. The effect of pressure and laser fluence was found to be negligible within the experimental uncertainties in the studied range. In addition, to complement our experimental findings, the T-dependent rate coefficients for the title reaction were investigated using computational methods. The B3LYP/6-311 + G(d,p) level of theory was used in combination with canonical variational transition-state theory with small-curvature tunneling to calculate the rate coefficients. The T-dependent rate coefficient in the range of 200-400 K was obtained as k(200-400theory) K (T) = 2.43 x 10(-13) exp[-(478.38/T)] cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) with a room-temperature (298 K) rate coefficient of 4.67 x 10(-14) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1).