dial tone

noun

: a tone emitted by a telephone as a signal that the system is ready for dialing

Examples of dial tone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Every version is supplied on a quick-release TPU strap matched to the dial tone, and a separate strap kit featuring four interchangeable quick-release straps is also available. —Matthew Catellier, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

There is often a scene of the author waiting patiently, against the dial tone, to sign in to AOL. —Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2025

Calls to police precincts Tuesday evening dropped without a dial tone. —Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 26 June 2024

For five months, the spacecraft transmitted unusable data equivalent to a dial tone. —IEEE Spectrum, 6 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dial tone

• alone
• atone
• backbone
• bemoan
• bluestone
• breastbone
• brownstone
• capstone
• cheekbone
• condone
• curbstone
• cyclone