dial

Substantiv

1. 1

   A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).

   Holonyms: (often holonymous) instrument, gauge

   The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.

2. 2

   A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed). Such a field as part of a clock face; (metonymic) the entire clock face.

3. 3

   A sundial.

4. 4

   A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.

   Turn the dial to Radio 4: my favourite show is on!

5. 5

   A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.

   His hands were too fat to operate the dial on the telephone.

6. 6

   SlangA person's face.

   “Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”

   At the sound of the old familiar voice he spun around with something of the agility of a cat on hot bricks, and I saw that his dial, usually cheerful, was contorted with anguish, as if he had swallowed a bad oyster.

   Old Mona Lisa would have looked like a sour lemon beside Angel Day on the rare days she put a smile on her dial, laughing with her friends when some new man was in town.

7. 7

   A miner's compass.

Verb

1. 1

   To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.

   The lead guitarist for the rock band Spinal Tap dialed his amplifier to 11.

   The president has recently dialled down the rhetoric.

2. 2

   To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone, regardless of whether a physical dial is present.

   In an emergency dial 999.

3. 3

   To use a dial or a telephone.

   Please be careful when dialling.

4. 4

   To initiate a connection to a remote computer service such as a database.

   The application failed when attempting to dial the Postgres server, because there were too many open connections.

5. 5

   veraltendTo use a dial-up modem to connect a personal computer to the Internet.

   I always check my guestbook when I dial, just in case anyone saw my Web site.

Formen

Plural

dials

Präteritum

dialed, dialled

Partizip II

dialed, dialled

Partizip I

dialing, dialling

3. Person Singular

dials