di·al
[dahy-uh
l, dahyl] noun, verb, di·aled, di·al·ing or (especially British) di·alled, di·al·ling, adjective noun
1.
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.
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.
00:10
Dial
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
| to flee; abscond: |
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
Verb phrases 13.
(of a telephone) having a rotary dial mechanism.
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 Middle English: instrument for telling time by the sun's shadow, presumably < Medieval Latin diālis daily (Latin di(ēs) day + -ālis -al1)
1400–50; late Middle English: instrument for telling time by the sun's shadow, presumably < Medieval Latin diālis daily (Latin di(ēs) day + -ālis -al1)
Related forms
un·di·aled, adjective
un·di·alled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
dial.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To dial
Collins
World English Dictionary
dial (ˈdaɪəl, daɪl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the face of a watch, clock, chronometer, sundial, etc, marked with divisions representing units of time |
| 2. | the circular graduated disc of various measuring instruments |
| 3. | a. the control on a radio or television set used to change the station or channel |
| b. the panel on a radio on which the frequency, wavelength, or station is indicated by means of a pointer | |
| 4. | a numbered disc on a telephone that is rotated a set distance for each digit of a number being called |
| 5. | a miner's compass for surveying in a mine |
| 6. | (Brit) a slang word for face |
| —vb , dials, dialling, dialled, dials, dialing, dialed | |
| 7. | to establish or try to establish a telephone connection with (a subscriber or his number) by operating the dial on a telephone |
| 8. | (tr) to indicate, measure, or operate with a dial |
| [C14: from Medieval Latin diālis daily, from Latin diēs day] | |
| 'dialler | |
| —n | |
| dial. | |
| —abbreviation for | |
| dialect(al) | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
| DIAL differential absorption lidar |
dial.
|
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Dial definition
for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11; Isa. 38:8). The Hebrew word (ma'aloth) is rendered "steps" in Ex. 20:26, 1 Kings 10:19, and "degrees" in 2 Kings 20:9, 10, 11. The _ma'aloth_ was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high. Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Dan. 3:6) is the first to make mention of the "hour."
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences
There was not much to do, except to dial overwhelmed government help lines and wait for news.
However, you can't dial back the reactor for lower generation at night.
It's really cool to be able to dial in exactly the level of efficiency you want, especially when going up hills.
People will dial blueprints on-line, he thinks, and fab anything from colanders to bookends.
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