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Dialing

 - 3 dictionary results

di⋅al

  [dahy-uhl, dahyl] noun, verb, di⋅aled, di⋅al⋅ing or (especially British) di⋅alled, di⋅al⋅ling, adjective
Use Dialing in a Sentence
–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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Dialing
di·al   (dī'əl, dīl)   
n.  

  1. 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.

  4. 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.

  1. To measure with or as if with a dial.

  2. To point to, indicate, or register by means of a dial.

  3. To control or select by means of a dial: dial a radio station.

  4. To call (a party) on a telephone.

  5. To signal (a number) in making a telephone call: The program dials the number and then connects to the file server.

v.   intr.

  1. To use a dial.

  2. 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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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