dial, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

dial n.

[SE dial, a clock-face; note earlier dial-plate n.]

the human face.

1841		Bell’s Life in London 22 Apr. 4/4: Unlike Mason’s dial, it is distinguished by a classic smeller.
1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 5 Feb. n.p.: Smith’s ‘dial’ was disfigured.
1853		N.Y. Clipper 6 Aug. 1/7: Mac just reached his man’s dial with the left.
1855		(con. 1824) Fights for the Championship 79: He hit Langan a severe blow with his left on the dial.
1857		Bell’s Life in Sydney 23 May 2/6: Tom’s dial seemed flushed but his ogles were still uninjured.
1889		Bird o’Freedom 7 Aug. 3: An absinthe tumbler which caught him a nasty crack across the dial finally convinced him that discretion was the better part of valour.
1899		C. Rook Hooligan Nights 10: The butcher never showed ’is dial again in the Walk.
1905		F. Hutchison Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 19: Me fer the guy wit’ the masquerade dial that hops out an’ does a few comedy flipflops.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 15 Jan. 4/7: He lands me three or four beauties on me dial.
1908		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘When They Sigh’ Sporting Times 15 Feb. 1/4: Loveaduck! She’s ancient; and in drink, and—what a dial!
1909		Truth (Wellington) 28 Aug. 3/5: A left jab to Cripps’s dial, and two short thrusts with right and left found the vistor’s headpiece.
1911		Collins et al. [perf. Harry Champion] ‘Any Old Iron’ 🎵 The way that people laughed at me it made me feel a clown / I began to wonder when their dials began to crack.
1913		H.G. Van Campen ‘Life on Broadway’ in McClure’s Mag. Mar. 40/1: I have saw Mr. Flo Ziegfeld tonight—he’s in the shop gittin’ his dial broomed right now.
1913		Sport (Adelaide) 15 Feb. 11/1: They Say [...] That Claude J has got a good heart to go in the P.P.P. competition with a dial like his.
1914		N.Z. Truth 4 July 4/7: Nessie [...] with her pretty dial surrounded by furs.
1915		C.J. Dennis ‘Uncle Jim’ in Songs of a Sentimental Bloke 97: ’Im, wiv the sunburn on ’is kind ole dile; / ’Im, wiv the sunbeams in ’is sweet ole smile.
1922		Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 2 Dec. 18/3: Then he woke up that he’d been ‘touched’. You should have seen his dial.
1926		S. O’Casey Plough and the Stars Act II: Th’ solemn-lookin’ dials on th’ whole o’ them.
1931		Philadelphia Inquirier (PA) Mag. 18 Jan. 11/4: ‘When I connects wit’ yer map, yer dial is apt to git mussed up — ’.
1936		Hotspur 11 Jan. 45: For a couple of tin tacks I’d bust you in the dial.
1937		A.W. Upfield Murder Down Under (1951) 133: She must needs open ’er bag to powder ’er dial.
1941		F. Sargeson ‘That Summer’ in Coll. Stories (1965) 155: You’ve got a hard dial, I said, but I bet you’ve got a kind heart.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 27: Had me dial in the paper more times than I can remember.
1954		Wodehouse Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 108: ‘Gosh, yes,’ said Aunt Dahlia, her dial lighting up like a stage moon.
1961		B. Crump Hang On a Minute, Mate (1963) 70: He had the cheekiest grin I ever saw plastered across his ugly dial.
1972		J. Hibberd A Stretch of the Imagination (2000) 121: I woke up in a puddle of blood and vomit . . . wiped my ugly dial with the bloomers.
1973		(con. 1940s–60s) Hogbotel & ffuckes ‘The Bastard from the Bush’ in Snatches and Lays 83: A nasty grin upon his dial.
1984		P. Slabolepszy ‘Over the Hill’ in Mooi Street (1994) 50: I don’t know what it’s going to be like not having your ugly dial around anymore.
1992		A. Duff One Night Out Stealing 92: Jube revved his engine up, but with a small smile on his dial.
1995		(con. 1860s) P. Ackroyd Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem 78: She’s got the dial for it.
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 144: McCarten had a grin on his dial as wide as the Sydney Heads.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 466: When they think they’ve got me nicely pigeon-oled, I’ll hit them with some intelligence, some articulacy — watch the gawps on ther fuckin dials.
2007		S. Maloney Sucked In 38: An expectant expression on his classic Hibernian dial.
2013		K. Sampson Killing Pool 70: There’s the chance that, on some submerged, subconscious level, they may twig that they’ve sen my dial somewhere else today.
2015		N. Cummins Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] [pic. caption] The old duck always has a smile on her dial.