dial tone
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of dial tone
First recorded in 1890–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“While you won’t hear a dial tone, you will always be connected.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Her mom, Paula James-Martinez, had to explain what a dial tone was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
Nearby, museum archivist Claire Violet is on her back beneath a table, trying to figure out why she can’t get a dial tone from a phone at her work station.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
“Every time I hear a dial tone, I think of Harry,” Biden said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 8, 2022
The phone line clicked and the dial tone sounded like an alarm in my ear.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
