dial-up

[ dahy-uhl-uhp, dahyl- ]

adjective

, Computers.

1. relating to or denoting a type of computer data transmission encoded in audio format and transmitted through a telephone call to an internet service provider:

   A dial-up connection to the internet is too slow to play most online video games.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dial-up¹

First recorded in 1960–65; adjective use of verb phrase dial up

Example Sentences

“It’s just a dial-up of our quality, to differentiate,” she said.

From New York Times

Net neutrality has been a partisan football for more than two decades, or ever since high-speed broadband connections began to supplant dial-up modems.

From Los Angeles Times

AOL became our confession booth, the dial-up hum connecting two souls across a continent.

From Los Angeles Times

The distinctions lie in the specifics, and rom-coms succeed on how memorable those specifics are: enduring a weird Welsh roommate, faking a climax in Katz’s, skewering terrible Christmas sweaters, falling in love over the radio, leading your colleagues in “Thriller” at a work function, enjoying the dulcet strains of AOL’s dial-up tone.

From New York Times

AOL became our confession booth, the dial-up hum connecting two souls across a continent.

From Los Angeles Times