subscriber trunk dialling

English

Noun

subscriber trunk dialling (uncountable)

1. (telephony, British spelling) A system of automatic connection of trunk calls through dialling a phone number without operator assistance.

   Synonym: STD

   • 1964 August, “The NER's microwave radio-telephone begins work”, in Modern Railways, page 130:

     This NER microwave radio telephone link will bring subscriber trunk dialling facilities to no fewer than 3,000 railway telephones at York, Newcastle, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Leeds and points as far north as Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Usage notes

As this practice is now commonplace, this term is now rarely used.

References

• “subscriber trunk dialling”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.