direct-dial

or di·rect di·al

[ dih-rekt-dahy-uhl, -dahyl, dahy-rekt- ]

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to make a telephone call outside the local area without the assistance of an operator.

adjective
  1. being a telephone or telephone system enabling long-distance calls to be direct-dialed.

  2. of or relating to direct dialing.

Origin of direct-dial

1
First recorded in 1955–60

Words Nearby direct-dial

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use direct-dial in a sentence

  • The Queen sent her first email at an RAF base in 1976 and she made the first direct-dial trunk call from the UK in 1958.

    One Has Tweeted! | Tom Sykes | October 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Malone, realizing that with direct-dial phones Boyd had no idea where he was actually calling from, kept wisely quiet.

    Occasion for Disaster | Gordon Randall Garrett