to dial in
- phrasal verb
- /ˈdaɪəl ɪn/
- "Bear flight, one-three-seven point one-five," Tamalko radioed to Borillo, directing him to dial in the assigned Navy fleet common frequency.
That was all that was all fine and you start to get it dialed in to make it work.
- That was all that was all fine and you start to get it dialed in to make it work.
- So technology may enable future cars to dial in how you want it to be.
- And so you have to dial in what is actually the thing that makes money here.
- However, the dosaging can be very tricky to dial in.
- You can like dial in presets and crap like that.
- Any unclosed loops that you think that you need to dial in?
- So right now, you know, I'm not really focused on the sales team because we're still really dialing in our processes.
- And often when you see that they have already dialed in, if not all six lifestyle pillars, they have at least dialed in the diet and exercise.
- And so it takes a high level of discipline to dial in your diet, a high level of discipline to dial in your workouts.
- It is what I think it is in terms of, of making sure your mindset is dialed in for those, you know, kind of super acute situations.
- And if you want to be literally undefeatable in business, literally unstoppable in life, you really want to dial in your morning routine.
Examples
-
VIEWERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DIAL IN THEIR SUGGESTIONS AT 1-900-555-DEMO.
-
We routinely leave the computer in answer mode so either Margaret or I can dial in after hours.
Fiction book (1990) -
You dial in your own personal code here.
-
I left the computer in answer mode so you could dial in from home if you wanted to.
Fiction book (1990) -
The American Independent obtained an invitation to the conference call and dialed in.
Blog text (31) -
James decided to dial in the service from his home computer in the evening using the company's user ID number.
Academic text (1997) -
A BBS usually requires users to dial in through telephone lines to access specialized information or services.
Academic text (1995) -
After you load your film, you dial in your ISO or ASA to what your film is rated at.
-
To join the virtual meeting, simply dial in using the provided number.
-
She had trouble with the video, so she decided to dial in on her phone instead.
Synonyms
Phone a place like an office or radio show to give information
Antonyms
To separate something so it is no longer joined, for example remove a cable or turn off power
How Precise
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The telephoning sense ('connect to a call') is directly derivable from 'dial' (to call by entering numbers) + 'in' (into/join), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer that meaning. However, the extended sense 'to adjust precisely' is a metaphorical extension of turning a dial and is less reliably predictable without prior exposure, making the overall MWE semi-transparent.
Etymology
Dial in may come from two simple images: turning a physical dial until a machine is exactly right, and using a phone dial to enter a number and get in to a meeting. So, dial in today means both 'to connect to a call' and 'to adjust something precisely'.