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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

Does Sir Idris Elba have the King on speed dial?

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

It’s always helpful to have a trust-and-estate attorney on speed dial.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 27, 2026

Cardoso said he is in regular contact with the farm to dial in the restaurant’s needs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

She covered the song in 1975, choosing to cut the third verse and dial up the drama with meaty piano chords, slugging drums and a flourish of cymbals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

She had gestured to the Rolodex on her desk during one of their earliest sessions, then turned the dial to flip through the contact cards.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

“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

In Scand. dial. the latter umlauted form only is found for the vb., but Norse sb. lukka, Dan. sb. lykke.

From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by George Tobias Flom

Hence, in mod. dial. use: Earthenware, clay ... b. attr. or adj.”

From North Devon Pottery and Its Export to America in the 17th Century by C. Malcolm Watkins

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

Subscriptions could drive another $7 billion in revenue, Nowak said, and $2 of earnings growth, as the group begins “turning emerging monetization dials and creating new costs to compete for audiences and wallet share.”

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

There are lots of visual displays, but they’re primarily operated by dials, levers and other physical controls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

Part of that included disposing of glowing dials, which were made using radium-226.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

Gazing up at Vivian’s window, she dials her number.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

By the time Skubal faced Baldwin again, with two outs in the third, his whole arsenal was dialed in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

She dialed the Comanche Police Department, and within minutes, a sheriff’s deputy arrived, followed by emergency responders.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Recent numbers from Goldman Sachs’s prime brokerage unit showed equity-focused hedge funds have dialed back their net exposure to stocks to some of the lowest levels of the past year.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Had university officials declared any bad news on campus off-limits and dialed up a soothing Wolverine win?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

She fed a dime into the slot and dialed the phone number on the card.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

"On retrospect, we should have done what you're suggesting," Kwon said, in response to a question by the committee on why it had not dialled the mobile numbers of government ministers.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

One of five men arrested near RAF Fairford in the early hours of Sunday morning had dialled 999 himself, the BBC understands.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

The woman, who has remained anonymous, said she initially tried to contact the Ministry of Defence police at RAF Fairford, but no one picked up, so she dialled 999.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

The central bank also dialled down its threat of interventions to weaken the franc by removing its reference to having an “increased willingness” to act.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

I dialled his number and listened to his voice when he picked up, at first soft with sleep, and then louder, wary, worried, exasperated.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

But rather than dialing anything back, the big players are just revving their engines more and more.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

“But Tehran is comfortable just dialing up the pressure.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Wall Street has been busy dialing up expectations for U.S. refiners’ second-quarter profits and sales.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

I’m dialing her before the back doors even close.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

The plot for Behind was inspired by "butt dialling", accidentally calling someone from a phone placed in a back pocket.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Manchester's Nico O'Reilly has the city's 0161 dialling code tattooed on his arm, while Sunderland-born Jordan Pickford was awarded his own parking space at his local Lidl after his World Cup exploits in 2018.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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

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