dial.
A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
Meaning & usage
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.
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.
A sundial.
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!
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.
A person's face.
A miner's compass.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dyew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws Proto-Italic *djous Latin diēs Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin diālis Middle French dyalbor. Middle English diall English dial The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).
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.
To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone, regardless of whether a physical dial is present.
In an emergency dial 999.
To use a dial or a telephone.
Please be careful when dialling.
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.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dyew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws Proto-Italic *djous Latin diēs Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin diālis Middle French dyalbor. Middle English diall English dial The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).
Try it on your idea.
dial has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.