dialing

n. act of turning a dial or pressing buttons to make a telephone connection

v. place a telephone call by pressing buttons or turning a dial

Dial may mean:Dial (of telephone), a device for the input of numbers in telephones and similar devicesA 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'Dial, a person's face; slang; v., e.g., P.G. WodehouseThe circular display of a clock or watchDial (display), a display device in radio, measuring instruments, etcDial House, an anarchist-pacifist open house in Essex, EnglandDial (soap)Dial Corporation, a consumer products company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Henkel KGaAThe Dial, an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929Dial Records, a name used by several record companiesDIAL (Markup Language), Device Independent Authoring Language, a W3C Working DraftMode dial, part of dSLR and SLR-like digital cameras'dial.' can be an abbreviation for 'dialect'.
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Noun
1. the face of a timepiece; graduated to show the hours
(hypernym) face
(part-holonym) timepiece, timekeeper
2. the control on a radio or television set that is used for tuning
(hypernym) control, controller
3. the circular graduated indicator on various measuring instruments
(hypernym) indicator
4. a disc on a telephone that is rotated a fixed distance for each number called
(synonym) telephone dial
(hypernym) selector, selector switch
(part-holonym) dial telephone, dial phone
(part-meronym) finger hole
Verb
1. operate a dial to select a telephone number; "You must take the receiver off the hook before you dial"
(hypernym) operate, control
(derivation) telephone dial
(classification) telephone, telephony
2. choose by means of a dial; "dial a telephone number"
(hypernym) choose, take, select, pick out
(derivation) telephone dial

(p. pr. & vb. n.)
of Dial
  

(n.)
The art of constructing dials; the science which treats of measuring time by dials.
  

(n.)
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.
  

In a communications system, using a device that generates signals for selecting and establishing connections. Note: The term "dialing" is often used to designate or refer to all calling devices used for inserting data to establish connections. [From Weik '89]