: relating to or being a standard telephone line used for computer communications
also : accessible via a standard telephone line
a dial-up Internet provider

Examples of dial-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The first wave came ashore in the 1990s with the arrival of dial-up internet access, which made personal computers good for something beyond word processing and basic games. Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024 The shrill drone of dial-up is a defining feature of Kyle Mooney’s directorial debut Y2K, even if the actual sound plays only a few times throughout the comedian’s brash and lopsided film. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 The film opens on the ancient stone-cutter image of an AOL screen, with that dial-up feedback sound, the primitive email, and a video feed (of Bill Clinton) coming into view through a brief haze of pixels. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Mar. 2024 The hum of a tiger mosquito B. Static from an AOL dial-up connection C. Glass splintering in an explosion D. Craigh Barboza, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Feb. 2024 The theatrics of it all enough to inspire Jenner to dial-up her own powers of seduction. Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2024 The charming drone of a dial-up tone has been replaced by Slack pings, text message buzzes and an iPhone alarm designed to activate our fight or flight senses. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2024 The technology led to high-speed Internet, with data capacities and transmission rates that were unimaginable with dial-up systems. IEEE Spectrum, 18 Jan. 2024 This was unavoidable in the age of dial-up, when the Internet connection would get disrupted any time a parent had to use the phone line. Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dial-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dial-up was in 1960

Dictionary Entries Near dial-up

Cite this Entry

“Dial-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dial-up. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dial-up

adjective
ˈdī(-ə)l-ˌəp
: relating to or done using an ordinary telephone line
dial-up Internet access

More from Merriam-Webster on dial-up

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