dial tone

English

Noun

dial tone (plural dial tones)

1. A telephony signal, usually in the form of a sound, used to indicate that the telephone exchange is working, has recognized an off-hook, and is ready to accept a call.
   • 1993 October, Robert Vazquez-Pachéco, “Have We Forgotten About AIDS?”, in Gay Community News, page 5:

     Are we jaded? Has living with AIDS become no big deal? Has AIDS had its "15 minutes?" We're over it. Goodbye. Click. Dial tone.

Synonyms

• dialling tone (UK)

Translations

telephony signal

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 撥號音／拨号音 (zh) (bōhàoyīn)

• Dutch: kiestoon (nl) m
• Finnish: valintaääni, vapaaääni
• French: tonalité (fr) f
• German: Wählton (de) m
• Hebrew: צליל חיוג m (tslil hiug)
• Spanish: tono de marcar m
• Swedish: kopplingston (sv) c

Anagrams

• delation, indolate, tiadenol