Dial definition | Dictionary.com

Synonyms

buzz, call, ring, punch, rotate, turn, twist, wheel,

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Dial - 8 dictionary results

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di⋅al

[dahy-uh

l, dahyl]

noun, verb, di⋅aled, di⋅al⋅ing or (especially British

) di⋅alled, di⋅al⋅ling, adjective

–noun

1.	a plate, disk, face, or other surface containing markings or figures upon which the time of day is indicated by hands, pointers, or shadows, as of a clock or sundial.

2.	a plate or disk with markings or figures for indicating or registering some measurement or number, as of pressure, number of revolutions, the frequency to which a radio is tuned, etc., usually by means of a pointer.

3.	a rotatable plate, disk, or knob used for regulating a mechanism, making and breaking electrical connections, etc., as in tuning a radio or television station in or out.

4.	Also called rotary dial. a rotatable plate or disk on a telephone, fitted with finger holes that are marked with letters or numbers, used in making calls through an automatic switchboard.

5.	any mechanism on the face of a telephone by which the caller places a call, as push buttons.

6.	Also called miner's dial. Mining. a compass used for underground surveying.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to indicate or register on or as if on a dial.

8.	to measure with or as if with a dial.

9.	to regulate, select, or tune in by means of a dial, as on a radio: to dial my favorite program.

10.	to make a telephone call to: Dial me at home.

–verb (used without object)

11.	to use a telephone dial; to dial a telephone: I keep dialing, but the line seems dead.

12.	to tune in or regulate by means of a dial: to dial into the opera broadcast.

–adjective

13.	(of a telephone) having a rotary dial mechanism.

—Verb phrase

14.	dial up, to obtain, reach, or contact by telephone: to dial up stock-market information; to dial up Chicago and do some business.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME: instrument for telling time by the sun's shadow, presumably < ML diālis daily (L di(ēs) day + -ālis -al ¹ )

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Language Translation for : Dial

Spanish:

esfera, carátula,

German:

das Zifferblatt,

Japanese:

文字盤

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dial.

dialect.

2.	dialectal.

3.	dialectic.

4.	dialectical.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Cite This Source

di·al (dī'əl, dīl) Pronunciation Key
n.

A graduated surface or face on which a measurement, such as speed, is indicated by a moving needle or pointer.
1. The face of a clock.
2. A sundial.
3. The panel or face on a radio or television receiver on which the frequencies or channels are indicated.
4. A movable control knob or other device on a radio or television receiver used to change the frequency.
1. The panel or face on a radio or television receiver on which the frequencies or channels are indicated.
2. A movable control knob or other device on a radio or television receiver used to change the frequency.
A rotatable disk on a telephone with numbers and letters, used to signal the number to which a call is made.

v. di·aled or di·alled, di·al·ing or di·al·ling, di·als

v. tr.

To measure with or as if with a dial.
To point to, indicate, or register by means of a dial.
To control or select by means of a dial: dial a radio station.
To call (a party) on a telephone.
To signal (a number) in making a telephone call: The program dials the number and then connects to the file server.

v. intr.

To use a dial.
To use a telephone.

[Middle English, sundial, clock, from Old French dyal, from Medieval Latin diāle, from neuter of diālis, daily, from Latin diēs, day; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots.]

di'al·er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

dial

1430, apparently from M.L. dialis "daily," from L. dies "day" (see diurnal). The M.L. was probably abstracted from a phrase such as rota dialis "daily wheel," and the earliest sense was "a sundial." It evolved to mean any round plate over which something rotates, including the telephone sense, from 1879, which led to the verb (1923) and to dial tone (1921), "the signal to begin dialing," which term soon will be the sole relic of the rotary phone.

dial
noun
1.	the face of a timepiece; graduated to show the hours
2.	the control on a radio or television set that is used for tuning
3.	the circular graduated indicator on various measuring instruments
4.	a disc on a telephone that is rotated a fixed distance for each number called
verb
1.	operate a dial to select a telephone number; "You must take the receiver off the hook before you dial"
2.	choose by means of a dial; "dial a telephone number"

Dial

Di"al\, n. [LL. dialis daily, fr. L. dies day. See Deity.]

1. An instrument, formerly much used for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; esp., a sundial; but there are lunar and astral dials. The style or gnomon is usually parallel to the earth's axis, but the dial plate may be either horizontal or vertical.

2. The graduated face of a timepiece, on which the time of day is shown by pointers or hands.

3. A miner's compass.

Dial bird (Zo["o]l.), an Indian bird (Copsychus saularius), allied to the European robin. The name is also given to other related species.

Dial lock, a lock provided with one or more plates having numbers or letters upon them. These plates must be adjusted in a certain determined way before the lock can be operated.

Dial plate, the plane or disk of a dial or timepiece on which lines and figures for indicating the time are placed.

Dial

Di"al\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dialedor Dialled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dialing or Dialling.]

1. To measure with a dial.

Hours of that true time which is dialed in heaven. --Talfourd.

2. (Mining) To survey with a dial. --Raymond.

DIAL
differential absorption lidar