dial

verb5

1. •
   to put in a phone number so as to call someone

   • In an emergency dial 999.
2. •
   To use a dial or a telephone.

   • Please be careful when dialling.
3. •
   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.
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. •
   (old-fashioned) To 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.

noun7

1. •
   A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).

   • The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.
2. •
   Such a field as part of a clock face; (metonymic) the entire clock face.
3. •
   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!
4. •
   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.
5. •
   A sundial.
6. •
   (UK, slang) A 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.” — 1918
7. •
   A miner's compass.

adjective1

1. •
   Abbreviation of dialectal.