pocket dial

plural pocket dials · alternative pocket-dial

1. idiomaticinformalA situation in which one's cellphone makes a call from one's pocket when its buttons are inadvertently pressed.

   It started off sounding like a pocket dial with incoherent noise and shouting […]

   2013, Elle Fowler, Blair Fowler, Where Beauty Lies, St. Martin's Press, published 2013, →ISBN, page 60

   2 more examples

   But consider this first: How do you know that he really meant to call you and this wasn't just an accidental pocket dial?

   2013, Jess McCann, Was It Something I Said?: The Answer To All Your Dating Dilemmas, Skirt!, →ISBN, pages 7–8

   My phone started ringing. I reached over and grabbed it, surprised to see Dewayne's name on the screen. Why would he be calling me at midnight on a Saturday? "Hello?" I said, almost expecting this to be a pocket dial.

   2015, Abbi Glines, Hold On Tight, Simon Pulse, →ISBN, pages 95–96

   Synonyms: butt dial

2. obsoleteA portable sundial of small size.

present singular third person pocket dials · US participle present pocket dialing · UK participle present pocket dialling · US participle past pocket dialed · US past pocket dialed · UK participle past pocket dialled · UK past pocket dialled · alternative pocket-dial

1. idiomaticinformalTo accidentally make a call this way.

   I answered and quickly realized that the person had “pocket dialed” me— his phone had called mine unintentionally.

   2012, Dudley Rutherford, God Has an App for That: Discover God's Solutions for the Major Issues of Life, Gospel Light, published 2012, →ISBN, page 115

   2 more examples

   I laugh despite myself, wiping my face with my sleeve. "Dan, you called me." "Oh, Bird! Is that you?" he says, laughing. "I must have pocket dialed you."

   2015, Alecia Whitaker, The Road to You, Poppy, published 2015, →ISBN

   The navigational information his smartphone provided was not always accurate, and at times he would accidentally 'pocket dial' participants at inappropriate hours.

   2015, Helen Kara, Creative Research Methods in the Social Sciences: A Practical Guide, Policy Press, published 2015, →ISBN, page 32

   Synonyms: butt dial