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• dial
  dial

  noun

  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.
• dial.
  dial.

  abbreviation

  dialect.

dial

¹ American  

[dahy-uhl, dahyl] / ˈdaɪ əl, daɪl /

noun

• dials
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• dials,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dialed,
  past participle,  past
• dialled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• dialing,
  present participle
• dialling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to enter or input (a number) on a telephone, as by means of a touchscreen, push buttons, or a rotary dial.

   I dialed your work number by mistake.

2. to make a telephone call to.

   You can dial the Telehealth hotline for advice from a nurse.

3. to regulate, select, or tune in by means of a dial, as on a radio.

   She reached over to dial an FM station.

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

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

verb (used without object)

• dials,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dialed,
  past participle,  past
• dialled,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• dialing,
  present participle
• dialling
  present participle (especially British)

1. to enter or input a number on a telephone, as by means of a touchscreen, push buttons, or a rotary dial.

   I keep dialing, but she's not picking up.

2. to use a dial to regulate or make a selection.

   Dial through the program settings on the washer to find the one that suits your load.

adjective

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

verb phrase

1. dial up

   1. to obtain, reach, or contact by telephone.

      Now's your chance to dial up Chicago and do some business.

   2. to access a computer, the internet, or another network by dialing a telephone number.

   3. to increase the level of; intensify.

      I used cayenne, garlic, oregano, thyme, and pepper to dial up the flavor.

2. dial down to reduce the level of; diminish.

   Such open threats of military action make it more difficult to dial down tensions.

dial. ² American  

abbreviation

1. dialect.

2. dialectal.

3. dialectic.

4. dialectical.

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dial ¹ British  

/ daɪl, ˈdaɪəl /

noun

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. 1. the control on a radio or television set used to change the station or channel

   2. 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. a slang word for face

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verb

1. to establish or try to establish a telephone connection with (a subscriber or his number) by operating the dial on a telephone

2. (tr) to indicate, measure, or operate with a dial

dial. ² British  

abbreviation

1. dialect(al)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dialler
  noun
• undialed
  adjective
• undialled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dials
  plural

Participles

• dialing
  present
• dialling
  present
• dialed
  past
• dialled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dial
  simple
• dials
  simple
• have dialed
  perfect
• have dialled
  perfect
• has dialed
  perfect
• has dialled
  perfect
• am dialing
  progressive
• am dialling
  progressive
• are dialing
  progressive
• are dialling
  progressive
• is dialing
  progressive
• is dialling
  progressive
• have been dialing
  perfect progressive
• have been dialling
  perfect progressive
• has been dialing
  perfect progressive
• has been dialling
  perfect progressive

Past

• dialed
  simple
• dialled
  simple
• had dialed
  perfect
• had dialled
  perfect
• was dialing
  progressive
• was dialling
  progressive
• were dialing
  progressive
• were dialling
  progressive
• had been dialing
  perfect progressive
• had been dialling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dial
  simple
• will have dialed
  perfect
• will have dialled
  perfect
• will be dialing
  progressive
• will be dialling
  progressive
• will have been dialing
  perfect progressive
• will have been dialling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dial

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English dial, diel,dyal “instrument for telling time by the sun's shadow,” from Old French dyal, from Medieval Latin diālis “daily” ( Latin di(ēs) ) “day” + -ālis adjective suffix; cf. -al ¹)

Explanation

A dial is a circle that has a series of numbers or marks representing numbers, like the dial of a clock face, a compass, or an old-fashioned telephone. If you have a watch that glows in the dark, it's the dial you can see even in a dark movie theater. Old telephones and televisions both have dials — the first has numbers from zero to nine in a circle, and the latter has a round disc for changing channels. When you call someone, you can say that you dial their number. In fact, people tend to use the word dial when they use a phone, even if they're pushing buttons or tapping a touch screen. The Latin root is dialis, "daily," and the earliest dial was a sundial.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dial dial. dials dialed dialled dialing dialling

Loupe This is currently auctioning a watch customized with Meta’s logo on its dial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

These engines are highly complex and it takes time for teams to dial into them so they are working at their optimum.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

She saw Turkey's denial of the Israeli allegations as a way to dial down tensions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

At first, a new piece of technology is exciting, promising to help dial in your training or recovery and ultimately improve your performance.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

I reach over to the phone and dial her number.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

“I’ve been talking to this guy every day! I’ve got him on speed dial. We’re so glad to see you.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2017

When Dad showed concern that I’d be in the woods by myself, I wiggled my cell phone and said, “I’ve got you on speed dial. Plus, I know those trails better than anyone.”

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

“Pick up the phone and dial. If you’ve forgotten how, we’ll be happy to show you.”

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen

The vowel-change from u to e or i is shown in tu, dialectic te, “dove”; uru, dial. eri, “servant”; duga, dial. ṣiba, “good,” etc.

From The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia by Theophilus Goldridge Pinches

This form exists in Yorkshire, otherwise the form in Eng. dial. is scrat.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by George Tobias Flom

When Lane Kiffin dials a number, the person on the other end usually answers and takes the call.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Customers outside Iran call his Turkish phone on WhatsApp and he then dials their loved ones on his Iranian mobile.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

It also immediately dials up pressure on the White House from consumers and businesses who are seeking payback.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026

He is hearing more automated screening when he dials others, but he is also making fewer calls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

He was strapped into a chair surrounded by dials, under dazzling lights.

From "1984" by George Orwell

He was a senior in high school at the time and remembered how much attention was dialed into the game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

AI companies said they dialed back rampant fawning earlier this year, but recent studies—and my own queries—show that newer models still kiss up to us.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Fight choreography was made to look more like brawling, with Chau noting performers dialed back “strong shapes, motions and lines” into characters that are “a little bit more broken down” to underscore the noir aesthetic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Beijing has dialed back oil purchases, keeping prices down, and shows little sign of picking back up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

“I’ve got to warn Alex!” said Nim, and dialed the number.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

The last time he visited the One Stop store on Fusehill Street was mid-afternoon on 27 July, the day before he dialled 999.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

The economy had been set for a rebound this year on the back of hefty government spending, but forecasts have been dialled back due to the conflict.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

In recent years though, the communist authorities in Vietnam have dialled down the anti-Chinese rhetoric, and worked hard to build closer relations with Beijing.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

"Apollo Go, are you paralysed?" one person wrote on social media, alongside a video of unanswered calls to the company dialled from an in-car tablet.

From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026

I held out for about three minutes before I retrieved the phone and dialled into voice mail.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Tractor Supply is dialing up promotions and trimming prices on popular items after concluding consumer belt-tightening won’t abate anytime soon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

“There is something so therapeutic in physically dialing the number,” Clifton-Hawkins said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

Microsoft has since softened its approach, dialing back the branding of some AI tools and even discontinuing free, built-in Copilot access in certain Office applications.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

The country is dialing back operations at the plants that turn crude oil into feedstock for materials such as plastics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Papi asks, then hurries away to the phone and begins dialing some numbers.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

Manchester's Nico O'Reilly has the city's 0161 dialling code tattooed on his arm, while Declan Rice keeps in touch with his old PE teacher at Grey Court School near Kingston upon Thames.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday she believed US President Donald Trump still desires to own Greenland despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.

From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026

Organisers of the youth-led protest movement known as GenZ 212 - the number refers to Morocco's international dialling code - have distanced themselves from the violence.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025

Instead of immediately calling an ambulance, an inquest heard Sheridan first contacted his mother, who also delayed and went out to buy sandwiches before eventually dialling 999.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025

When he had finished dialling, he picked up his handkerchief from the desk and put it over the mouthpiece, quite loosely and mounted rather high.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger