direct-dial
Americanverb (used with or without object)
adjective
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being a telephone or telephone system enabling long-distance calls to be direct-dialed.
-
of or relating to direct dialing.
Etymology
Origin of direct-dial
First recorded in 1955–60
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.
In 1983, the last full-fledged hand-cranked telephone system in the United States went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial service.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 11, 2020
She laughs: "Because you're the one who has the direct-dial phone to the White House."
From BusinessWeek ● May 27, 2010
Even small offices are now routinely equipped with the latest teleprinter facilities as well as direct-dial connections to U.S. and Canadian ports.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Soviets claim that their modern direct-dial equipment has been transferred only temporarily from international service, where telephone usage is relatively light, to the domestic network.
From Time Magazine Archive
His friend sent him a list of AT&T calling card numbers and a toll-free direct-dial number which connected Australians with American operators.
From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette
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.
