Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dialing \Di"al*ing\, n.
The art of constructing dials; the science which treats of measuring time by dials. [Written also dialling.]
A method of surveying, especially in mines, in which the bearings of the courses, or the angles which they make with each other, are determined by means of the circumferentor.
Wiktionary
alt. (context British English) (present participle of dial English) n. (alternative form of dialing English) vb. (context British English) (present participle of dial English)
WordNet
n. the face of a timepiece; graduated to show the hours
the control on a radio or television set that is used for tuning
the circular graduated indicator on various measuring instruments
a disc on a telephone that is rotated a fixed distance for each number called [syn: telephone dial]
See dial
Wikipedia
In somewhat archaic applied mathematics, dialling is the mathematics required to create a sundial face to determine solar time based on the position of the sun. Those skilled in the art were referred to as dialists or gnomonists, the latter derived from the word gnomon, which was a device that used a shadow as an indicator.
The mathematician William Oughtred published a book, Easy Method of Mathematical Dialling, around 1600. Samuel Walker (1716–1782) was a Yorkshire mathematician and diallist. In his later years, Thomas Jefferson was known to practice dialling as a mental exercise. Professor of astronomy at Gresham College (London, UK), Samuel Foster (d. 1652), developed reflex dialling, which describes a device of his own invention: a sundial capable of reflecting a spot of light onto the ceiling of a room.
Dialling, (dialing in US English), is the action of initiating a telephone call by operating the rotary dial or the telephone keypad of a telephone.
Dialling may refer to:
- Dialling (mathematics), the mathematics needed to determine solor time
- Dialling (telephony), making a telephone call
Usage examples of "dialling".
Dialling 100, I conjured out a genteel Brummagem voice, laying it on thick.
The receiver was dropped back, leaving him with just the dialling tone, a sound like angry insects swarming that could turn into imaginary noises in the head if he didn't take a grip on himself.
I heard the dialling tone and could feel my shoulders sag with relief as the receiver at the other end, after relay through an hotel desk, was picked up almost immediately.
Morses hand flashed across the table and snatched the receiver, but he heard only the dull, quiet purr of the dialling tone.
She grabbed the phone beside her bed, and was grateful to hear the dialling tone.
Nobody speaks as he waits, the receiver pressed to his ear so that the absence of a dialling tone will not be heard.
The dialling tone told him that the phone was probably in working order, and keeping the instrument to his ear he turned round and looked up and down the road.
He had crammed the fries into his mouth with one hand while dialling the radio with the other, picking up an enticing babble of bop and Perry Como and some big band and early rhythm and blues.