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Glite Dictionary
clock dial

clock dial

3.1
The face of a clock that shows the time with numbers and hands
  • noun
translation icon : esfera del reloj
  • The clock dial showed that it was almost midnight as the party continued.

Examples

  • Every hour, the hands on the clock dial moved gracefully, marking the passage of time.

  • I could see the orange of the alarm clock dial and the phone pulled up close.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • She glanced at the clock dial to check the time before leaving for her meeting.

Synonyms

dial
vsclock dial
49 1.8

A clock face that shows the time with hands or numbers

is limited to showing clock time rather than other instruments
clock face
vsclock dial
1 2.1

A flat surface on a clock that shows the hours and minutes with numbers and hands

is the same concept but phrased slightly differently

How Readable

clock dial
3.1

Surface Forms

clock dial singular
clock dials plural

Morphology

clock + dial

The meaning 'the face of a clock on which the time is shown' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents 'clock' (timekeeping device) and 'dial' (the display on a clock or gauge). This is a straightforward noun–noun compound following common semantic composition patterns found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Clock dial comes from old sundials and the first mechanical clocks, which used a flat, marked plate called a dial. On a sundial a shadow moved across the marks and on a clock a hand moves the same way, so a clock dial became the 'face' that 'shows the time'.