Definition of "dial"

dial

/ˈdaɪ.əl/

noun
plural dials
1. A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
2. A clock face.
3. A sundial.
4. A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.
5. A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.
6. (UK, Australia, slang) A person's face.
  Quotations
  “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, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 90
  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.
  1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 9, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins
  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.
  2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 137
7. A miner's compass.
verb
third-person singular simple present dials, present participle (US) dialing or dialling, simple past and past participle (US) dialed or dialled
1. (transitive) To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.
2. (transitive) To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.
3. (intransitive) To use a dial or a telephone.