dial

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as…

   A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).

   • Holonyms: (often holonymous) instrument, gauge
   • The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.
2. 2

   A sundial.

3. 3

   A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels

   A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.

   • Turn the dial to Radio 4: my favourite show is on!
4. ›+ 9 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A disk with finger holes on a telephone

      A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.

      • His hands were too fat to operate the dial on the telephone.
   2. 5

      A person's face.

      • “Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”
      • At the sound of the old familiar voice he spun around with something of the agility of a cat on hot bricks, and I saw that his dial, usually cheerful, was contorted with anguish, as if he had swallowed a bad oyster.
      • Old Mona Lisa would have looked like a sour lemon beside Angel Day on the rare days she put a smile on her dial, laughing with her friends when some new man was in town.
   3. 6

      A miner's compass.

   4. 7

      To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.

      • The lead guitarist for the rock band Spinal Tap dialed his amplifier to 11.
      • The president has recently dialled down the rhetoric.
   5. 8

      To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone, regardless of whether a physical…

      To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone, regardless of whether a physical dial is present.

      • In an emergency dial 999.
   6. 9

      To use a dial or a telephone.

      • Please be careful when dialling.
   7. 10

      To initiate a connection to a remote computer service such as a database.

      • The application failed when attempting to dial the Postgres server, because there were too many open connections.
   8. 11

      To use a dial-up modem to connect a personal computer to the Internet.

      • I always check my guestbook when I dial, just in case anyone saw my Web site.
   9. 12

      A surname.

The neighborhood