dialn.1
/ˈdʌɪəl/, U.S. /ˈdaɪ(ə)l/ 1. Any instrument used to measure the time, esp. a mechanical clock or watch, or (in early use) a sandglass, water clock, quadrant, etc. Now archaic and rare.In the 15th-cent. nautical examples the word is likely to refer to a sandglass: see G. P. B. Naish ‘The “Dyoll” and the Bearing-dial’ in Jrnl. Navigation 7 (1954) 205–8. See also the note at sense 5a.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [noun] > instrument or timepiece
horologea1382
dial1410
horology1509
horologiuma1661
timekeeper1674
timepiece1708
time machine1870
digital1975
1410–12 Accts. & Inventories J. Starlyng in Mariner's Mirror (1914) 4 23/1 ij sculles j cok pro nav. iij compas j dyoll xxxvj pavys.
1413–16 Foreign Accts. Henry V (P.R.O.: E 364/64) m. 4/1v In..j ketill j dioll j Boxe ij plumb. v laternis j cabul j hauser..emptis pro gubernacione defencione & apparatu euisdem Nauis.
?a1422 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 444 (MED) [The Mary of Weymouth had] one dyoll and one seyling-needle.
c1450 J. Marion in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 131 56 Souereyne beaute..Orlage asterlaber, þe grete spere of þe sonne, Quadrant, dyol, shipe vn-to þe grete godhed.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Testament (Harl. 2255) in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems (1840) 245 As the peys of a dyal [c1475 Harl. 218 diall] goth.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 213/2 Diall to knowe the houres by the course of the sonne, quadrant.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Diall, clepsydra, horologium.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie D 566 A diall measuring houres by running of the water..Clepsydra.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xvii. 19 b The Ambassadour sent his presents..one small clocke or dyall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 20 And then he drew a diall from his poake, And..Sayes, very wisely, it is ten a clocke. View more context for this quotation
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall xli. 329 One of those accurate Dyals that go with a Pendulum.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 40 Motions..no more to be discovered, than that of the Hand of a Diall.
1714 W. Derham Artific. Clock-maker (ed. 3) xi. 139 By the Table, you see how many minutes, and seconds, the Dial is too fast, or too slow.
1771 E. Ledwich Antiquitates Sarisburienses 92 On the East side is a dial of near ten feet square, with quarter jacks under it.
1815 N. Amer. Rev. Sept. 334 In former times, dials were common in every town.
1859 Littell's Living Age Oct. 745/2 I sprang to a window which commanded a view of the college dial. Merciful Providence! it stood at eleven o'clock, or a few seconds after.
1940 R. A. Freeman Mr. Polton Explains iv. 62 I had just received a shop dial..it stops now and again, which is a nuisance.
2.
a. A sundial or similar instrument which indicates the time of day by means of the shadow of a pointer cast by the sun on to a marked surface.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > [noun] > sundial
chilindrec1386
dialc1425
sundial1555
clocka1562
cylinder1593
horoscope1623
compass-dial1632
moon dial1664
ring dial1667
heliotrope1669
pole-dial1669
sciatheric1682
spot dial1687
polar dial1688
sun clock1737
meridian ring1839
solarium1842
journey-ring1877
scratch dial1914
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 1517 (MED) By þe dyal þe hour þei gan to marke, Þat Phebus southward was reised in his arke So hiȝe alofte þat it drowe to noon.
1455 in H. E. Salter Registrum Cancelarii Oxoniensis (1932) I. 353 (MED) 1 bursa cum diall de ligno.
?a1500 in M. R. James Descriptive Catal. MSS Eton Coll. (1895) 38 Ther was ye deyn and ye offycyall Wt ij fayces lyke a dyall.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings xx. 11 The shadowe wente backe ten degrees in Achas Dyall.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Diall set vpon a chymney or wall to knowe what is a clocke by the sunne, sciotericon.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) ii. v. 24 To carue out Dialls queintly, point by point, Thereby to see the Minutes how they runne. View more context for this quotation
1647 N. Ward Simple Cobler Aggawam 37 Where clocks will stand, and Dials have no light.
1719 E. Young Busiris v. 63 How like the Dyal's tardy moving Shade! Day after Day slides from us unperceiv'd!
1720 J. Gay Trivia ii, in Poems I. 155 Here to sev'n streets sev'n dials count the day.
1799 S. Vince Elem. Astron. (1810) iv. 56 A clock or watch may..be regulated by a good dial.
1806 J. Montgomery Wanderer of Switzerland & Other Poems 89 Nor only o'er the Dial's face, This silent shade, from day to day.
1878 B. Taylor Prince Deukalion i. vi. 50 The Hour shall miss its place, And the shadow recede on the dial's face.
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur v. xii. 355 Exactly as the gnomon of the official dial up in the citadel pointed the second hour half gone.
1978 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 88 476 Plotting the shadow's position at the same Mean Time each day produces a projection of the analemma on the dial, the lines of projection from the Sun to the dial passing through the point which casts the shadow.
2011 Archaeol. Ireland 25 i. 6 (caption) The new dial reads off the time perfectly.
b. With modifying word descriptive of the means by which the dial indicates the time, as sundial, moon dial, etc., or details of its use, as night dial, nocturnal dial, ring dial, etc.Earliest in sundial n. Some of the more common collocations are treated at the first element.
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1555 L. Digges Prognostication Right Good Effect sig. Fiii In any true fixed, or, movable Sunne Dial.
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 165 Which bare a Sunne-diall, and the Sun setting.
1667 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 435 A large Ring-Dial..having a Box with a Compass or Needle.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Moon-Dial, or Lunar Dial, is that which shews the Hour of the Night, by means of the Light, or Shadow of the Moon projected thereon from an Index.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Nocturnal, or Night-Dial, is that which shews the Hours of the Night.
1745 J. Brown Ess. Satire 16 The honest Irishman, who apply'd his Candle to the Sun Dial in order to see how the Night went.
1819 W. Irving Rip Van Winkle in Sketch Bk. i. 68 The neighbours could tell the hour by his movements as accurately as by a sun dial.
1861 Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 253/2 A gate of three avenues, with a solar dial on the one side, and a lunar dial on the other.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 88 The reflections may be discerned in weather too cloudy to see any shadow on the sun dial.
1918 K. Norris Josselyn's Wife vii. 119 Ellen looked down at the formal garden, with its moondial and its trimmed cypresses close to the woods.
1984 New Scientist 25 Oct. 27/1 Inventor Olin Liddel has filed a European patent..on a star dial that works like a sundial.
2003 Garden Hist. 31 6 A similar diagram of a nocturnal dial appears on the title page.
c. With modifying word designating a particular type of sundial, as declining dial, primary dial, reflecting dial, universal dial, etc.azimuth, globe, horizontal, polar, spot, vertical dial: see first element.
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c1582 Instructions for Voy. to N. Amer. in D. B. Quinn New Amer. World (1979) III. 242/2 Lett Bavin never go att any tyme without a payer of writing Tables... And one alweis to attend him with..an universall Dyall a Crosse Staffe and Ephemerides or somme other Calculation Tables.
1640 Bp. J. Wilkins Disc. New Planet (1707) ii. 165 In all declining Dials, the Elevation of whose Pole is less than the Sun's greatest Declination.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 373/1 Pendant Dials which are hung by the hand..commonly called Equinoctial or Universal Dials, are most used by Sea-Men and Travellers that oft shift Latitudes.
1702 A. Sharp Let. 17 Feb. in J. Flamsteed Corr. (1997) II. 917 More convenient and exact then Mr Molyneuxs Telescopicall Dyall.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Erect declining Dials, Dials whose Planes are not directly opposite to any of the Four Cardinal Points, but decline from the Meridian or prime Vertical Circle.
1782 Archaeologia 6 143 Vitruvius says they had horizontal, vertical, and declining dials.
1819 P. Nicholson Archit. Dict. I. 332 Deinclining Dials, such as both decline and incline, or recline.
1895 Virginia Mag. Hist. & Biogr. 2 279 Universal dial, twelve silver spoons, twelve ivory knives.
1929 Geogr. Jrnl. 73 457 The mobile circle carries a ring in a third plane which is graduated to serve as an equinoctial or universal dial.
2006 M. Lennox-Boyd Sundials vi. 69 When they also do not face directly south they are called reclining declining dials.
3.
a. The face of a clock or watch; the (typically flat and circular) surface on which are marked the graduations and figures indicating the hours, minutes, etc., to which the hands point. Cf. dial plate n. 1a.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of > dial or markings on dial
tablea1400
dial1440
watch1588
punctilio1596
dial platea1652
recliner1652
dial piece1658
face1659
horary circle1664
night dial1670
horizontal dial1674
hour-stroke1674
hour-plate1690
clock face1764
niche1822
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 120 Dyale, or dyel, or an horlege [a1500 King's Cambr. dial or diholf of an horlage], horoscopus.
1516 Rye Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquarian Horol. (1976) Winter 50 For iiij dayes werkyng uppon the frame of the weche and dyall in the steple ijs.
?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 76 Too dyallz ny vntoo the batilments ar set aloft vpon too of the sydez of Cezars toour..to sheaw the oourz too the tooun & cuntree.
1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues (new ed.) (at Diall) The hand of a clock-dyall, la monstre d'un Horloge.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 42. ⁋8 I walk in the great hall and watch the minute hand upon the dial.
1772 Brit. Mag. & Gen. Rev. Jan. 42/1 The motion and running of the wheels..may be seen through the transparency of the dial.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 569 The part where the dials of the clock are placed is of an octagonal form.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 85 Sir Edmund Beckett advocates a concave form for the dials of public clocks.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love xxvii. 420 A long-case clock, and inserted into its dial was a ruddy, round, slant-eyed, joyous-painted face.
1950 Home Words Christmas 184/2 At Carfax, Oxford, a pair of fine quarter-jacks are placed in a prominent position beneath the dial of the clock.
2008 J. Collins Married Lovers i. 11 He threw her a disapproving look while tapping the dial of his fake gold Rolex.
b. In figurative expressions likening the human face to that of a clock, sundial, etc. Cf. sense 3c.
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a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) II. 214 The Face is the Dial of the Mind.
1698 E. Ravenscroft Ital. Husband ii. i. 22 If you wou'd know how Youth doth pass, Look on the Dyal of your face.
1701 tr. Present State Europe June 221 So happy a thing it is for a Prince to have an Intelligent Clergy, that understand what time of Day 'tis, by the Dial of his Countenance.
a1854 W. North Slave of Lamp (1855) 95 Every face is a dial—every feature a cypher.
1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway 47 She..read on Lady Bruton's face, as if it had been a dial cut in impassive stone, the dwindling of life.
2001 S. King Dreamcatcher vii. 233 Sometimes he stops,..turns the clockless dial of his face up to the sky, and laughs.
c. slang. The human face. Cf. dial plate n. 2.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > [noun]
leera700
nebeOE
onseneeOE
wlitec950
anlethOE
nebshaftc1225
snouta1300
facec1300
visage1303
semblantc1315
vicea1325
cheera1350
countenance1393
front1398
fashiona1400
visurec1400
physiognomyc1425
groina1500
faxa1522
favour1525
facies1565
visor1575
complexiona1616
frontispiecea1625
mun1667
phiz1687
mug1708
mazard1725
physiog1791
dial plate1811
fizzog1811
jiba1825
dial1837
figurehead1840
Chevy Chase1859
mooey1859
snoot1861
chivvy1889
clock1899
map1899
mush1902
pan1920
kisser1938
boat1958
boat race1958
punim1965
1837 Bell's Life in London 12 Mar. 4/2 Counter hitting, the Jew taking fearful liberties with Lane's dial.
1882 ‘M. Twain’ in Harper's Christmas 28/1 Whenever I perceive this sign on this man's dial, I comprehend it,..and give him opportunity to unload his heart.
1899 C. Rook Hooligan Nights i. 15 The butcher never showed 'is dial again in the Walk.
1933 Punch 5 Apr. 384/3 The major hesitated, and then a grin lamped up his dial.
1958 L. A. G. Strong Light above Lake xxi. 146 You should have seen the solemn dials on all the Gardas and officials.
2002 H. Ritchie Friday Night Club (2003) i. iv. 36 He pauses for a moment, puts a smile on his dial and opens the doors.
4. figurative. Anything likened to a sundial, clock, etc., by virtue of its function as a guide or indication, esp. of the time or the passage of time. Now rare.
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a1500 Hymnal in R. S. Loomis Medieval Stud. in Memory G. S. Loomis (1927) 473 (MED) The cok..is owr clok, he is owre trwe diall.
1553 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Eneados i. Prol. 341 Venerabill chaucere..Heuinly trumpet, orlege and regulere..condict and diall.
1556 J. Jones (title) The Dial of Agues.
1557 T. North title Gueuara's Diall of Princes.
1582 T. Bentley et al. Monument of Matrones Pref. B j b A delectable diall for to direct you to true deuotion.
1616 B. Jonson Cynthias Revels (rev. ed.) v. iv, in Wks. I. 251 Her nose, [is] the gnomon of Loues diall, that tells you how the clocke of your heart goes.
a1638 E. Cecil in C. R. Markham Fighting Veres (1888) (modernized text) 345 He was the very dial of the whole army, by whom we knew when we should fight.
1650 J. Reynolds Flower of Fidelitie vii. 136 But alas, these amarous [sic] Ladies were both deceiv'd! for the Dial of their cerebrosities told the hour of assignation before the horologe sounded.
1721 J. Mottley Antiochus iii. i. 29 Was it your Advice, My Father winter'd o'er with sixty Years, Took a fair Lady in her Beauty's Spring, And made affronted Hymen light his Torch, When the faint Dial of expiring Life Prolcaim'd [sic] the scanty Time it had to burn?
1767 tr. D. Cranz Hist. Greenland I. iii. vi. 231 They..carry on their calendar..by the shining of the sun on the dial of the rocks and mountain.
1832 A. E. Bray Let. in Descr. Part Devonshire (1836) I. xviii. 318 We have..the shepherd's calendar, and the one o'clock, the very dial of poetry.
1842 Token & Atlantic Souvenir 313 We men may serve as flower-dials for beings of a higher order.
1854 J. D. Forbes Tour Mt. Blanc Introd. 11 The stately march of the glacier is yet a stage more slow, months and even years are but the units of division of its dial.
1891 F. B. Meyer Life & Light of Men ii. 18 It was Jesus that rolled the stars on their orbits, to tell forth the glory of God, and to keep time on Nature's dial.
2003 D. DeLuca Pathways to Joy 12 The passage of time makes no mark whatsoever on the dial of eternity.
5. † a. Nautical. A mariner's compass. Obsolete. Middle Eng. Dict. records a sense ‘the dial of a mariner's compass; ?also, a compass’, and illustrates this with 15th-century evidence (quots. ?a1422 and c1450 at sense 1). It seems likely, however, that this interpretation is incorrect, and that an instrument for telling the time is intended in these examples. See A. G. Rigg ‘Clocks, Dials, and other Terms’ in D. Gray & E. G. Stanley Middle English Studies (1983) 268.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > compass
compass?1518
dial1523
shipman's card1530
nautical compass1552
mariner's compass1594
pyx1686
pyxis1686
box and needle1753
magnetic compass1838
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xx. f. 38 It is necessarie that he haue a Dyall with hym, for els..he shall nat haue perfyte knowlege, whiche is Eest West Northe and Southe.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 85 Whan the nedle standeth stedfastlye in the right Line wythin the Diall, it dothe as it were poynte directlye North and South.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 34 Cabo das Agulhas, or the cape of Needles, because there the needles of dialles touched with the loadstone, stand directly North.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 107 For first inuenting of the Sea-mans Diall.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 830 The needle of the Diall set just on the North point..shakes not.
1717 C. Bullock Woman is Riddle iii. 30 I have set her Heart upon as fickle a Pin as the Needle of a Dial, that will never let it rest 'till it be in the right Position.
b. Mining. A miner's compass. Now chiefly historical.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > other mining equipment
dial1681
stick1708
motty1797
nail1839
spiking crib or curb1839
spile1841
bull1849
dag1863
ore bin1867
monitor1873
Billy Fairplay1876
snibble1883
brattice-cloth1885
breaker1885
steam point1895
picking belt1900
self-rescuer1924
rock duster1930
walking dragline1930
1681 T. Houghton Rara Avis in Terris ii. 68 Having provided your self of a Dial in a square Box.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 207 Apply the side of the dial to the string, and take the degree the needle stands on.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 18 The compass used in underground surveying is called a miner's dial, and is essentially the same instrument as the circumferentor used by the land-surveyor.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill ix. 306 Innumerable journeys between the tripods for candle-reader and dial set up at every surveying point.
2004 P. Barton et al. Beneath Flanders Fields (2005) v. 92/2 He..cajoled GHQ into supplying the necessary equipment to help them achieve it, such as box sextants, miners' dials and levels.
6.
a. A flat plate or face with a scale and pointer for showing measurements of a quantity such as weight, pressure, speed, etc. Frequently with distinguishing word denoting the quantity being measured.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > graduated instruments > dial
dial1706
dial plate1839
1706 in J. Ashton Social Life Reign of Queen Anne (1882) II. 56 The Wind Dial, lately set up at Grigsby's Coffee..House,..being of Constant use to those that are in any wise Concerned in Navigation.
1726 Philos. Trans. 1725 (Royal Soc.) 33 413 The Motion being thus communicated to this Dial, which has a Bell in it, it strikes exactly the geometrical Paces, Miles, or Leagues, which the Ship has run.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. May 223 Move one tooth every revolution of the wheel, thereby discovering the true distance of places by the index on the dial.
1835 Edinb. New Philos. Jrnl. 18 314 Fig. 4. represents the face of the tide-dial, with a supposed tidal curve traced upon it.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 233 Let us now turn to the face of the instrument. Here we have a dial and an index, which is on the same axis as the magnetised needle.
1917 Automobile 21 June 1166/1 A temperature dial on the instrument board of the plane.
1960 P. Anderson High Crusade (1968) 37 I..deciphered the legends on some of the control-panel instruments. Such dials as those for altitude and speed could readily be mastered.
2013 Sun (Nexis) 6 May 34 She was shocked when the dial on the scales flickered past 22 stone.
b. A disc on a telephone with numbered finger holes, which is rotated a set distance for each digit of the number being called. In later use also: a keypad used for the same purpose. Cf. dial v. 3.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > parts of telephone
induction coil1837
ferrotype1857
telephone receiver1875
mouthpiece1877
receiver1877
microphone1878
telephone trumpet1879
magneto bell1882
magneto call bella1884
rest1883
hook1885
receptor1898
telephone dial1898
ringer1899
dial1900
Button A (or B)1922
switch hook1922
phone bell1924
hybrid coil1925
cradle1929
dial wheel1938
hybrid transformer1941
scriber1968
fascia1973
1900 K. B. Miller Amer. Telephone Practice (ed. 3) xxxiv. 467 The subscriber..places his finger in the slot numbered 6, and turns the dial until his finger strikes the stop on the lower edge of the dial, then he lets go and the dial returns to normal position.
1905 Proc. Sel. Comm. Telephone Syst. (House of Commons Canada) I. 1018 You can be talking within five seconds of the time that you commenced to operate the dial... There are no subscribers in Grand Rapids that object to turning the dial or operating our telephones.
1931 Punch 27 May 564/2 I like the dial telephone. Bless its funny little dial!
1958 Pop. Sci. Sept. 136/2 Last month I sat down at a desk in New York before a telephone and, by simply turning the dial, got a number in San Francisco.
1972 Daily Tel. 11 Aug. 20/4 The more modern push-button type of ‘dial’.
1996 Irish Times (Nexis) 19 Aug. 14 Hopping around pressing various buttons on the dial of the phone.
2006 A. P. Meade Million Dollar Baby xxv. 308 As her finger reached for the dial, she realized her error: the telephone at Kensington House had yet to be connected.
c. A rotatable disc or knob on a radio used to tune in to various radio stations or networks. Also: a similar knob on a television used to tune in to various television stations.
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society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > radio equipment > [noun] > radio set > receiver > parts of
coherer1894
radioconductor1897
barretter1903
cat's whisker1915
dial1922
radio dial1922
chassis1931
front end1938
1922–3 T. Eaton's Catal. Fall–Winter 401/1 Radio Supplies... Dials and Knobs.
1935 C. George Sweetest Girl in Town i. 34 In my loneliness I turned the dial; Now my life is no longer a trial.
1964 K. Kesey Sometimes Great Notion 177 He stops to twiddle with the dial of his transistor.
1979 Texas Monthly June 141/2 Turn your television dial to Channel 13.
1995 Billboard 25 Feb. 143/4 Smaller market stations, with fewer competitors on the dial, can spread out and try to attract older listeners.
2004 K. Adams Ex-girlfriends x. 144 We're coming up on a station break, so don't touch that dial.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Tortricidae > member of
Tortrix1797
dial1819
leaf roller1830
subtriple spot1832
bell-moth1841
oak leaf roller1877
roller1877
red-banded leafroller1886
1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 441 Tortrix... gnomana... The dial.
1852 List Specimens Brit. Animals in Coll. Brit. Mus. X. 88 Lozotænia gnomana. The Dial T[ortrix].
c1858 H. N. Humphreys Genera Brit. Moths I. 156/1 Lozotænia gnomana. The Dial T[ortrix].
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society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > [noun]
toolc888
loomc900
ginc1300
instrumentc1392
machinamentc1425
work-loomc1425
oustil1477
mistera1525
appliance1565
device1570
utensil1604
conveniency1660
contrivance1667
ruler1692
machine1707
implements1767
dial1839
dog1859
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 740 An important instrument called a dial, which serves to hold the stone during the cutting and polishing.
1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 299/2 One of the improved forms of the lapidary's dial consists of two jaws..in each of which a hemispherical cavity is ground.
1898 Zion's Watch Tower 15 Dec. 2405/1 The earthly lapidary..has an instrument called a ‘Lapidary's Dial’, which indicates the position of the jewel exactly and avoids the poor cutting of olden times.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, instrumental, objective, etc.
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?c1475 in J. Gairdner Sailing Direct. (1889) 21 (MED) There is in lx fadome or lxx smale diale sonde.
1585 J. Blagrave Math. Iewel 28 By helpe of a dialneedle, rectified or otherwise.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry V i. ii. 210 Many lines close in the dyall center.
1651 in G. F. Dow Probate Rec. Essex County, Mass. (1916) I. 132 A diall Case, 8d.
1731 Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 328 With this little Bar naked I touched a small Dial-Needle made of Steel.
1785 G. Washington Diary 6 Nov. (1978) IV. 220 Two sections of the Circle in front of the House—from the Dial Post to the Center Post.
1858 Catal. Magnificent Coll. Wks. Art & Vertue D. Falcke 62 An old clock, by Lacroix, in dial-shaped case of statuary marble.
1875 S. Lanier Symphony in Poems 157 Each dial-marked leaf and flower-bell.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 2 Feb. 4/1 The dial-pointer wobbled so violently that it was impossible to obtain definite readings of it.
1925 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 83/2 Now tune in five or six stations on your set, and note the dial reading for each.
1964 S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes (1969) xiv. 284 The main uses of a dial gauge include the checking of place surfaces for parallelism and thickness.
1982 Giant Bk. Electronics Projects ii. 93 The dial scale can now be marked for the calibration resistance value.
2007 Wire May 76/2 Dilloway's dial-tweaking has the intuitive deftness of a master improvisor.
C2. Chiefly with allusion to sundials and mechanical timepieces.
dial foot n.
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1830 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 4 265 The small circles close to the squares represent the holes to receive the dial feet, which may be pinned in the ordinary way.
1920 Jewelers' Circular 7 Apr. 157/1 Tapered screws from the brass ring passing through holes in the dial feet.
2011 G. Daniels Watchmaking (rev. ed.) xiii. 397 This would entail a greater element of risk of damage by loosening the dial feet.
dial hand n.
ΚΠ
1603 S. Bradwell Mary Glovers Late Woeful Case in M. MacDonald Witchcraft & Hysteria in Elizabethan London (1991) 12 The same hand which was so limber and light before, would, starting wise, pitch into the form of a dyall hand; that is, the thumbe and forefinger being extended, and the rest clasped in.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iii. xxii. 70 The stealthy dial-hand.
2009 New Yorker (Nexis) 25 May 33 Men's watch faces shall remain gigantic..Also popular this year: rubber straps, red dial hands.
dial-maker n.
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1596 W. Honnywell Diary 15 Jan. in Antiquary Dec. (1892) 255/1 On the 30th I received my watch from the dyal maker and paid him for the mending of him vs.
1599 J. Minsheu Percyvall's Dict. Spanish & Eng. at Relogero A diall-maker.
1824 J. G. Gorton tr. Voltaire Philos. Dict. II. 390 We should like to know what this dial of Ahaz was; whether it was the work of a dial-maker named Ahaz.
2012 Belleville (New Jersey) Times (Nexis) 11 Oct. a22 She was a dial maker and stockroom clerk with Penn Walt Corp. in Belleville.
dial stone n.
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1789 W. Bentley Hist. Town & Parish Halifax 303 John Broadley..preached thirteen Sundays on the dial-stone in the chapel-yard.
1871 T. Logan Green Glens of Lothian 125 Ower the dial-stane rude, weather-beaten, and grey.
1996 S. Friar Compan. Eng. Parish Church 437/2 There are..several instances of dial stones being angled away from a church wall in order to compensate for the inaccurate orientation of a building.
dial-work n.
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1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 99 This rule and reason of shadows, which we use to call Gnomonical, or Dial-work, was first found out by Anaximenes..and he was the first that set up a Sciathericum, (i.) a Dial to shew what's a clock.
1706 Contract Bk. St. Paul's Cathedral 15 Nov. in 16th Vol. Wren Soc. (1939) 30 All the Dial Wheels, Rowels, and Centers of the Dial work to be made of brass.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 695/2 Dial-work (Horology), the motion work between the dial and movement plate of a watch.
2001 Internat. Wristwatch No. 64. 16/4 A handsome square stainless steel automatic Heuer chronograph, with the dialwork in red, black and white.
C3. † dial ring n. Obsolete rare a finger ring incorporating a miniature sundial; cf. ring dial n.† dial writer n. Obsolete a typewriter in which the types are arranged round the circumference of a disc, which is turned by the action of the keys.
dial lock n. a lock equipped with a dial or set of dials, having hands or pointers which must be set in a particular way before the bolt will move.
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1852 Liverpool Mercury 2 Mar. The ring or letter padlock, and the dial lock..were next described.
1910 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Dec. 421 This security is frequently furnished by combination or dial locks that are much more expensive.
2007 F. W. Dixon Pushed xiii. 124 Joe started turning the knob of the dial lock, listening intently.
dial motto n. an inscription on the face of a sundial.
ΚΠ
1822 C. Lamb in London Mag. June 533/2 The standing..dial-mottos.
1901 A. M. Earle Old Time Gardens (2005) iii. 88 These dial mottoes are unusual, and perfect examples of that genius which with a few words can shape a lasting gem.
2007 P. Wright Shadows New Sun xv. 201 Before we leave these old dial mottoes, it may be well to quote Valeria's mistranslation.
dial pad n. a telephone keypad.
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1969 Telephone Engineer & Managem. Oct. 134/2 All other numbers can be called with the dial in the telephone set, or the dial pad may be removed allowing only the 10 designated numbers to be called.
1990 M. Truman Murder at National Cathedral (1992) xxii. 243 He..leaned close to the phone's dial pad, and slowly, tentatively, punched in numbers.
2008 USA Today (Nexis) 26 June (Money section) 3 b You can make calls by tapping on your contacts, speed-dial numbers and recently called numbers, or by summoning a dial pad.
dial phone n. = dial telephone n.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1917 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 17 July 4/4 We have a couple of thousand of the dial phones on hand.
1931 Punch 27 May 564/2 One can do such a lot with the dial phone without getting into a hot exchange of snappy come-backs.
2000 T. Taylor in C. Bush Journey Prize Anthol. 78 ‘How they found you here I'll never know,’ the barman said, and pointed to a cream coloured dial phone at the end of the bar.
2009 N.Y. Times Mag. 24 May 22/1 A household item like a dial phone that has faded into the mists of antiquity.
dial piece n. = dial plate n. 1a.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of > dial or markings on dial
tablea1400
dial1440
watch1588
punctilio1596
dial platea1652
recliner1652
dial piece1658
face1659
horary circle1664
night dial1670
horizontal dial1674
hour-stroke1674
hour-plate1690
clock face1764
niche1822
1658 J. Spencer Καινα και Παλαια 210 Upon the Dyall-peece of the Clock, in the Colledge Church of Glocester, are pourtrayed four Angels.
1850 J. H. Jesse London Its Celebrities 234 The pleasure which we derived from watching the savage figures striking the hours with their clubs, on the quaint dial-piece of St. Dunstan's Church.
2003 Business Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 29 Aug. Bovet..is another company which specialises in very small numbers of enamel dial pieces.
dial plane n. the flat surface of a sundial on which the shadow of the gnomon is cast.
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1652 S. Morgan Horlogiographia Optica 37 The Sun cannot shine on all Diall Planes.
1703 Moxon's Mech. Dyalling (ed. 4) in Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 310 A Dyal Plane is that Flat whereon a Dyal is intended to be projected.
1868 Chambers's Encycl. III. 531/1 A dial consists of two parts—the stile or gnomon..and the dial-plane.
1999 Jrnl. Warburg & Courtauld Inst. 62 116 The splay of hour lines depends on the angle between the dial plane and the polar axis.
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1850 Archæologia Cambrensis (N.S.) 1 332 A dial ring, the property of Mr. Edward Jones, of Dolgellau, consisting of two concentric rings, one moving within the other.
dial telegraph n. now historical a telegraph having a dial marked with numbers and the letters of the alphabet, and operated in such a way that the needle on the dial at a receiving station copies the movements of that at the transmitting station.
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1845 Hull Packet & E. Riding Times 20 June 7/2 One of the needles on the dial telegraph at the Southampton terminus became unfitted for use by its polarity being destroyed by the electric fluid.
1886 R. Wormell tr. A. von Urbanitzky Electr. in Service of Man (1890) 804 Of A B C systems where a battery is employed to furnish the current, Bréguet's Dial Telegraph is a good example.
1975 W. O. Henderson Rise German Industr. Power 1834–1914 xvi. 191 In the same year [sc. 1847] Werner Siemens went into partnership..to make dial telegraphs, ringing devices and electro-medical inductors.
2009 H. Obendorf Minimalism v. 114 The dial telegraph offered a direct mapping of interface and functionality and was easy to use.
dial telephone n. a telephone operated by means of a dial, formerly spec. (U.S.) one that makes a connection automatically; = dial phone n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1921 Union Telephone Operator June 6 Other records credit a firm of Philadelphia lawyers with the invention in 1879 of a dial telephone with an automatically controlled switch.
1931 Punch 27 May 564/2 I like the dial telephone. Bless its funny little dial!
2009 G. J. W. Munster Naomi of Nob Hill i. 1 Naomi's crummy old dial telephone kept on ringing relentlessly through the night.
dial tone n. originally U.S. = dialling tone n. at dialling n. Compounds 2.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > signals or tones
call signal1853
telephone call1878
tone1878
ring-off1885
busy tone1902
buzz1913
dialling tone1917
dial tone1920
ringtone1921
ringing tone1922
pip1929
pip-pip-pip1936
logatom1937
pay-tone1958
ringtone1984
1920 Telephony 1 May 17/2 The ‘dial tone’..indicates when the apparatus is ready to receive his call.
1923 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 2 ii. 62 The subscriber will first remove his receiver from the hook and will hear the so-called..‘dial tone’, which indicates that the apparatus is ready to receive the call.
1989 K. Green Night Angel v. 52 There was only silence followed by a soft click, the dial tone humming back on the line.
2001 Wired Dec. 51/2 September 11 call volume far exceeded that of telco's otherwise peak period—Mother's Day—leaving millions of anxious callers without a dial tone.
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society > communication > printing > typing > typewriter > [noun] > kinds of
typograph1820
printing key frame1851
dial writer1883
stenograph1891
stenotyper1898
stenotype1913
Brailler1951
electronic typewriter1957
manual1972
1883 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 May 6/2 The last thing in type-writers, called a ‘dial writer’.
1886 Inland Printer Apr. 390/2 The ‘Dial’ writer is small and compact, weighs only six pounds, writes with ink obtained from small rollers [etc.].
Derivatives
ˈdial-less adj.
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1865 Athenæum 8 July 49 The tower remained dial-less as before.
1954 Pop. Sci. Sept. 143/2 The tubes can show the time on dialless clocks.
2012 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 7 Apr. 1 The dial-less nine-speaker sound/navigation system.
ˈdial-like adj.
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1639 T. Bancroft Two Bks. Epigrammes & Epit. i. sig. C My unpierced Muse, whose lofty rime Shall (Diall-like) stand in the face of time, And looke it downe, when thou and thine shall lie Damn'd up with Dust in blind Obscurity.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters I. i. 3 Where the helianthus turns her dial-like face to the sun.
2007 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 13 May iii. 2 The Art Guard's center has a dial-like protuberance that, from a distance, could be mistaken for an iPod's click wheel.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dialn.2
/ˈdʌɪəl/, U.S. /ˈdaɪ(ə)l/ Now rare.
More fully dial gum, dial kauri. A high quality, colourless grade of kauri resin (a type of copal), formerly used in varnishes.
ΚΠ
1892 G. H. Hurst Painters' Colours, Oils, & Varnishes xiv. 401 The best quality is known as ‘dial’ kauri.
1893 Times 14 July 4/4 Gums, Kowrie..Dial—pale yellowish, £11.
1906 Times 1 Dec. One case Dial gum sold.
1935 N.Z. Railways Mag. 1 Oct. 43 White gum (ranging from ‘dial’ or ‘bright gum’ to ‘diggers' dust’).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Dialn.3
/ˈdʌɪəl/, U.S. /ˈdaɪ(ə)l/ Pharmacology.
A barbiturate compound used (esp. formerly) in the treatment of sleep disorders and pain; = allobarbital n. Also more fully Dial-Ciba (
Brit. /ˈdʌɪəlˌsiːbə/
, /ˈdʌɪəlˌsiːbə/U.S. /ˈdaɪ(ə)lˌsibə/
)./ˈdaɪ(ə)lˌsibə/ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > sedatives, antispasmodics, etc. > [noun] > sedative > specific drugs
nepenthe1595
nepentha1626
bromide1883
bromo-seltzer1896
Dial1914
bromo1916
Amytal1926
Sedormid1928
Phenergan1948
promethazine1949
chlorpromazine1952
Thorazine1954
perphenazine1957
trimeprazine1959
Mandrax1963
mandy1970
1914 Druggists Circular Aug. 470/1 Dial-Ciba, a new sedative and hypnotic, is diallyl-barbituric acid.
1918 Q. Jrnl. Med. 11 109 For sleeplessness, bromides, chloral, veronal, and Dial (Ciba) were used frequently.
1922 Chem. Abstr. 16 4299 Veronal, phenobarbital and dial condense readily in AcOH soln.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags 142 She..returned to bed, took two tablets of Dial and slept, gently.
1974 Science 15 Mar. 1087/3 Male albino New Zealand rabbits..were anesthetized with Dial with urethane [..Ciba Pharmaceutical Co.].
2002 J. C. Siglin & W. H. Baker in M. J. Derelanko & M. A. Hollinger Handbk. Toxicol. (ed. 2) 65 (table) Dial (Ciba). More rapid onset and less toxic than urethane alone.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
dialv.
/ˈdʌɪəl/, U.S. /ˈdaɪ(ə)l/ 1. transitive and intransitive. Mining. To survey or lay out (land, a mine) with the aid of a miner's or surveyor's compass. Cf. dial n.1 5b. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > survey [verb (transitive)] > in specific manner
level1598
chain1610
bone1712
dial1747
to make a level of1798
triangulate1833
traverse1838
plane-table1880
resect1888
1653 E. Manlove Liberties & Customes Lead-mines Derby 164 To make inquiry, and to view the Rake, To plum and dyal.
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. C4 Having exactly dialed it, to the Place where you would have your Shaft to come through, and laid it out at the Day upon the Surface.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 203 Most of our Mines and Adits were dialled for in this manner.
1853 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 14 153 To cut the gutters with the plough used by him after being dialled out.
1902 A. Lupton Pract. Treat. Mine Surv. 394 Dialling ‘over the rails’, under the impression that the pull on one side will balance that on the other, is erroneous, and liable to serious error.
2008 R. Rees Black Myst. 119 Finding the buried seams, judging the quality of the coal, interpreting the throws or faults, and dialing or laying out the mine, might have been regarded as arts.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > measure by or as an instrument [verb (transitive)] > measure by means of instruments > using a dial
dial1821
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > measure by or as an instrument [verb (transitive)] > register or indicate a certain measurement > on a dial
dial1821
1821 New Monthly Mag. 1 10 Experienced sensibility is like the gnomon. It measures the altitude and dials the light of inspiration.
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 210 To teach us how to dial bliss.
1845 Manch. Guardian 25 Oct. 9/5 Hours of that true time which is dialled in heaven.
1882 H. M. Converse Sheaves 40 The summer's flowers, Whose blossoms dialled time and marked the hours.
3.
a. intransitive. To call a telephone number by turning the disc of the dial or (later) by pushing buttons on a keypad or touch screen.
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1918 Rep. Extension of Telephone Syst. District of Columbia (House of Representatives) 38 Making it possible to dial from any station connected with the War Board to any other automatic station connected to that board.
1921 Conquest Jan. 126/3 The subscriber begins to dial by putting his finger in hole 5.
1957 Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gaz. 24 4/5 You can dial by number instead of dialing ‘Operator’.
1978 Bull. Atomic Scientists Feb. 56 The ability to dial from Stockholm or Oslo to Valencia or Budapest is as technically impressive as dialing from Philadelphia to Albuquerque.
1993 Aiken (S. Carolina) Standard 13 Jan. 4/3 She meant she would find a phone that she could ‘dial’ by pushing buttons.
2011 J. Briscoe You xv. 131 She trembled violently as she dialled.
b. transitive. To enter (one or more digits or letters) by turning the disc of a telephone dial or (later) by pushing buttons on a keypad or touch screen so as to make a telephone call; to call (a person, service, etc.) on a telephone. Also: to operate the dial of (a telephone); to make (a call) by telephone.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate by telephone [verb (intransitive)] > dial
dial1921
redial1951
misdial1954
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate with by telephone [verb (transitive)] > dial
dial1921
redial1949
direct-dial1968
1921 Conquest Jan. 124/3 The operator's attention is obtained..by dialling ‘o’ usually.
1922 Glasgow Herald 9 Aug. 9 Subscribers will communicate with each other by ‘dialing’ the required number and obtaining immediate connection without the intervention of an operator.
1932 E. Bowen To North xxv. 276 Very clumsily, slowly, she dialled a number.
1942 R. Chandler High Window vii. 63 The threshing sound of a telephone being dialed.
1948 Time 21 June 2 When you drop a nickel in a pay station and dial a call..as many as 1000 telephone relays go into action.
1964 Rotarian Dec. 61/1 He announced his rank and name into the phone when I dialled him later.
1985 Company Dec. 48/3 They'd run up a gargantuan bill dialling a fairy tale from a prerecorded Santa.
2006 ‘T. Reynolds’ Blood, Sweat & Tea (2009) 16 These people called an ambulance last night by dialling ‘999’.
4. transitive. To set or indicate by means of a dial; to control by means of a dial. Also intransitive.
ΚΠ
1928 Daily Tel. 28 Feb. 15 She goes to the ‘central supply conveyor’, at which, by dialing on an indicating switchboard, she lets the store know her requirements.
1947 National Geographic Mag. Aug. 285 Built-in exposure guide... You just ‘dial’ the right exposure.
1966 Listener 21 July 103/1 This one dialled the safe's vital combination.
2000 D. Brede Turfgrass Maintenance Reduction Handbk. x. 252/1 Maybe it activated for the 10 minutes dialed on the knob, or maybe it ran for closer to 14.
Phrases
Originally and chiefly North American. to dial for dollars: to solicit sales or financial support by means of (frequently unsolicited) telephone calls to potential customers or donors. [After the name of Dialing for Dollars, a television (and originally radio) programme broadcast on various local stations in North America in the mid 20th cent., in which randomly selected telephone numbers were dialled and viewers were awarded cash prizes for giving an arranged password upon answering the call.]
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1959 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 20 Dec. 10 b/4 Music lovers will dial for dollars in January. The Wethersfield Symphony Committee will spend Jan. 16 telephoning residents for contributions to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.
1971 Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Amer. 6 Dec. 1/4 The United Givers Fund is dialing for dollars today through Thursday.
1988 Economist 3 Dec. 120/2 Life is becoming ever tougher for Shearson's army of cold-calling salesmen... As they dial for dollars, increasingly they are finding themselves selling low-margin Treasury bonds..rather than commission-juicy shares and unit trusts.
2012 S. W. Solovic & E. R. Kadin It's your Biz x. 171 Before you begin dialing for dollars, make a list of potential investors.
Phrasal verbs
PV1. With adverbs in specialized senses. to dial down to dial in to dial up
transitive. To adjust the dial or control of (a device) so as to reduce the level of sound, temperature, etc., produced; to reduce the (volume, temperature, etc.) in this way; (now also figurative) to lessen the intensity, degree, etc., of. Also intransitive. Cf. to dial up 2 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1935 K. Dayton & G. S. Kaufman First Lady ii. i. 58 Carter, will you turn that off, please?..[stage direct.] (As he dials down).
1960 Washington Post 15 Aug. d7/7 (advt.) Lets you dial up..dial down, tailoring your hot water supply for normal, busy, peak days.
1977 Pop. Sci. Nov. 159/2 (advt.) Dial down your thermostat to save money and energy.
1988 E. White Beautiful Room is Empty i. 14 When Ivan introduced us, she..dialed down the brilliance of her smile.
1999 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 11 Jan. 33 If the management of a restaurant, club or movie house refuses to dial down the volume, ask for your money back.
2012 D. Hill et al. Dealing with Tough Stuff ii. 24 The guiding principle is to dial up the praise for the big stuff and dial it down for the little stuff.
1. transitive. To enter (a telephone number) by turning the disc of a telephone dial or (later) by pushing buttons on a keypad or touch screen.
ΚΠ
1924 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 43 377/2 Due to the arrangement of wiring on the cross connecting block which allows the number dialed in to be converted into any other number of either more or less digits, the call is actually routed over a number combination most favorable to the various offices through which it passes.
1956 Fortn. Telephone Engineer Aug. 19/3 The called number, which was dialed in by the caller, is pulsed out through the recorder to the toll ticketing selector.
1986 T. Clancy Red Storm Rising (1987) v. 60 Pipes picked up his phone and dialled in a three-digit number, his direct line to CINCLANT.
2008 C. T. Adams & C. Clamp Timesless Moon 250 Taking a deep breath, he dialed in the number. A male voice answered on the first ring.
2. transitive. To tune a radio or television to (a particular station or programme) by means of a dial. Also intransitive.Now historical with reference to television.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > audience > [verb (transitive)] > tune to specific channel
to tune in on or in to1913
to dial in1931
1931 Radio Digest Apr. 83/1 Like to hear some music play? Dial in.
1944 Billboard 22 Jan. 11/4 Listeners consistently dialed in out-of-town stations.
1951 National Jewish Monthly Apr. 278/2 Viewers who had dialed in Benny stayed to see Levenson.
1998 Canad. Geographic Sept. 92/1 Her grandmother sometimes dialed in the BBC when it played Inuit songs from Greenland.
2006 M. Walker Laurel Canyon i. 8 I would dial in the Spade Cooley live TV show every Saturday night from Los Angeles.
3. transitive. To set or regulate (a device) by means of a dial or similar control mechanism.
ΚΠ
1956 Science 27 July 194/2 (advt.) Desired magnifications simply ‘dialed-in’ by rotation of calibrated cylinder.
1982 Pop. Photogr. Apr. 46/3 The control of color filtration is stepless, allowing you to dial in any filtration you want without any compromise.
2009 R. Hock Perfect Edge ii. 32/1 If you have a very accurate oven in the kitchen..just dial in the target temperature and heat your blade in the oven for the time required.
4. intransitive. To gain access to a computer, network, etc., over a telephone line by the use of a modem. Cf. to dial up 1b(b) at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > network > [verb (intransitive)] > connect
to log in or on1963
to sign into ——1971
to dial in1972
to dial into ——1972
to sign in1973
1972 Computing Center Newslet. 18 Aug. 4/2 A research group with a terminal would be smart to ‘reserve’ a port for its terminal by dialing in and remaining connected all day.
1988 InfoWorld 22 Aug. 16/5 The Ditto screen-sharing program uses a command structure and can access other PCs across a network or can dial in via a modem or an X.25 link.
1998 D. S. Bennahum Extra Life vii. 127 Students used the Grumman computer, dialing in by modem from the old computer club room.
5. transitive (in passive). colloquial.
a. Of a thing: to be set up precisely and perfectly so as to perform at a high standard.
ΚΠ
1977 Anderson (Indiana) Daily Bull. 19 May 22/2 We put a new motor in (this week) and we're breaking it in right now. We're trying to get it dialed in. We're not pushing too hard.
1985 Cycle World May 63/1 Once dialed-in, the Husky fork is one of the best there is across the desert.
2002 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 15 Dec. iii. 2/1 (advt.) After 30 years of managing fixed-income investments, our method for analyzing bonds is dialed in.
b. Of a person: to be or become so focused that one is able to perform to the best of one's abilities.
ΚΠ
1988 R. Rayner Los Angeles without Map iii. 68 Dudes like that, they're totally dialled in. They can earn a quarter of a million a year, serious coin.
1999 Sunday Mirror 10 Oct. 70/5 I didn't really get dialled in at all until the final qualifying session on Saturday.
2009 C. James Game Day 205 Hard-core fans can hear in your analysis if you're dialed in to their team or not.
1.
a. transitive. To call (a person, place, etc.) by using a telephone; to enter (a telephone number) on a dial; to call (a telephone number).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate with by telephone [verb (transitive)]
telephone1877
call1879
ring1880
to call up1882
phone1889
to give a ring1895
buzz1914
to give (a person) a tinkle1921
to dial up1924
1924 Jrnl. Western Soc. Engineers 29 47 The ticket is passed to the toll line operator, who dials up a connection through the intermediate toll office, on to the distant city, and directly to the line of the called subscriber.
1956 Pop. Sci. Nov. 265/2 (advt.) Amazing dial telephone switch. Complete with dial. Dial up any number from 1 to 99.
1977 Times 26 May 17/4 Dialling-up the appropriate number and viewing the information on the television screen.
1978 Rodale's Synonym Finder (rev. ed.) 456/1 Telephone, Inf. phone, call, Chiefly Brit. ring or ring up, dial or dial up.
1984 Listener 15 Nov. 38/2 Dial up directory inquiries and you find that whereas local inquiries are free, you are charged for those in other telephone areas.
1997 Weekly World News 24 June 15/3 Laura didn't answer, so I dialed up her parents on their other line.
2005 P. Doran Reluctant Tuscan vii. 61 I dialled up my sister, Debbie, who still lived in the town we grew up in.
b.
(a) transitive. To gain access to (a computer, network, etc.) over a telephone line by the use of a modem.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > network > [verb (transitive)] > connect > by phone
to dial up1967
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate with by telephone [verb (transitive)] > dial > transmit data over telephone line by
to dial up1967
1967 Times 15 Sept. (Computers Special Surv.) p. xi/2 The computer has been dialled-up on a telephone.
1977 Times 30 Sept. 23/3 A much larger range of information..will be available for transmission when dialled up (via a calculator-like keypad—not the telephone dial—to be precise).
1986 Guardian 15 May 15/2 You just dial up Easynet, like any other telephone service, and enter a password. You're then offered a menu of choices or subjects on which to search.
2009 Independent 9 Dec. (Life section) 8/2 The smiley and all its variants have irked me from the day I first dialled up Usenet nearly 17 years ago.
(b) intransitive in same sense.
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society > computing and information technology > network > [verb (intransitive)] > connect > by phone
to dial up1981
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate by telephone [verb (intransitive)] > dial > transmit data over telephone line by
to dial up1981
1981 Computerworld 9 Feb. 18/3 Formerly, anyone with a password could log on from the RJE station or by dialing up from a modem.
1985 Inmac Catal. Spring 83/2 You can dial-up using the single stored number, or direct from your keyboard.
1993 Macworld Dec. 188/2 GeoAssist..will let Newtons dial up to find business names, addresses, and phone numbers by locale or keyword.
2002 Times 5 Apr. 13/2 (advt.) The agonising wait when dialling up to the internet has been made well and truly redundant.
2. transitive. To adjust the dial or control of (a device) so as to increase the level of sound, temperature, etc., produced; to increase the (volume, temperature, etc.) in this way; (now also figurative) to increase the intensity, degree, etc., of. Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. to dial down at Phrasal verbs 1.
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1940 Adventure July 74/2 We can run the car right up close to the windows and by dialing up the radio volume, get our calls without going out-of -service.
1960 Washington Post 15 Aug. d7/7 (advt.) Lets you dial up..dial down, tailoring your hot water supply for normal, busy, peak days.
1989 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 7 May 1 a From the beginning of the week, police seemed to be dialing up the pressure on whoever was responsible for the crime.
1993 M. Wolfe Hadj xiii. 189 I dialed up the air conditioner and stretched out on the bed to read more Burckhardt.
2011 L. G. Bolman & J. V. Gallos Reframing Acad. Leadership viii. 135 There are also times when leaders need to dial up the heat to get constituents to recognize the seriousness of a problem.
PV2. With prepositions in specialized senses. to dial into ——
intransitive. To gain access to a computer, network, etc., over a telephone line by the use of a modem. Also transitive. Cf. to dial in 4 at Phrasal verbs 1, to dial up 1b at Phrasal verbs 1.
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society > computing and information technology > network > [verb (intransitive)] > connect
to log in or on1963
to sign into ——1971
to dial in1972
to dial into ——1972
to sign in1973
1972 Computing Center Newslet. 18 Aug. 4/1 I've..noticed that people will dial in to ports and leave the terminal connected and idle, sometimes for long periods of time.
1980 Computing Center Newslet. 17 Sept. 9/2 It could be a device that is ‘hardwired’ to MTS, not currently in use, and in a list of devices that can be attached or it might be a device dialed into MTS.
1989 C. Stoll Cuckoo's Egg Epil. 312 I dialed into my..Sun workstation, running the popular Berkeley flavor of Unix.
1993 Computer Weekly 7 Jan. 16/1 Paxdata has released Lan-Link, which allows users on remote PCs to gain transparent access to dial into Ethernet networks over either ISDN or the PSTN.
2004 ‘Dr. K.’ Hackers' Tales i. 23 Similar to Prestel, you dialled into a node, selected a service and entered your four-digit ID and four-digit PIN.
Compounds
Prefixed to a noun preceded by the indefinite article (in the form dial-a-), used chiefly of an agency or service that is accessible by telephone, as dial-a-bus, dial-a-ride, etc. Also in extended use. Frequently in attributive collocations.
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1938 Pop. Sci. Oct. 15/1 Only Midwest gives you a combination of features like Dial-a-Band Wave Changer.
1959 Pop. Mech. June 229/1 The Dial-a-Rain, Capri and other Nelson lawn sprinklers are available at leading hardware, garden supply, and department stores.
1963 Daily Tel. 6 Sept. 23/5 Britain's first ‘Dial-a-prayer’ system comes into operation on Birmingham's subscriber trunk dialling telephones next Tuesday.
1969 Nature 15 Feb. 601/2 The later introduction of a development in transport called ‘dial-a-bus’ or ‘telebus’ is also recommended.
1971 Times 8 Jan. 3/8 The organisation also offered the public a ‘dial-a-chat’ service, where anyone could telephone its central switchboard..and speak to one of its members.
1977 Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xii. 37/7 (advt.) Transit manager to implement and supervise innovated public paratransit system in growth suburb NW of Chicago. System will consist of subscription mini-bus and dial-a-ride van service.
1986 D. Gethin Dane's Test. iv. 27 He was essentially a poseur, a dial-a-quote intellectual maverick.
1997 Times 5 Mar. 22/1 A mini-courtroom drama is in progress—a bench of quasi-judges, rapt audience, lawyers, all intent on the contest of the day: cable rates, radio and television licences, satellite broadcasts, dial-a-porn telephone lines.
2009 Alpha Mag. (Nexis) 19 Aug. 88 If the local dial-a-pizza joint knows you by voice, you're giving them too much of your cash.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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