butt-dial

1 of 2

verb

butt-di·​al ˈbət-ˌdī(-ə)l 

variants or less commonly butt dial

butt-dialed also butt dialed; butt-dialing also butt dialing; butt-dials also butt dials

transitive verb

: to place an unintended call to (someone) from a mobile phone (as by sitting on a phone placed in a back pocket) when the phone is not in use

Responding to a complaint about illegal fishing, a game warden tried to call one of the suspects but the suspect hung up and then butt-dialed the game warden back. "Maybe the game warden didn't see," one of them said to the other as the warden listened in.

—Christopher Collins

Cops in Staffordshire, England easily nabbed two burglars on Jan. 6 after one of the suspects mistakenly butt-dialed the emergency number 999 during an alleged break-in.

—Toronto (Canada) Sun

butt-dial

2 of 2

noun

variants or less commonly butt dial

plural butt-dials also butt dials

: a call placed from a mobile phone by butt-dialing : an accidental mobile phone call

The drunk text is familiar now. It needs no more explanation than a butt-dial or an autocorrect typo or cellphones in general.

—Kaitlyn Tiffany

Finally, I received a message from someone who clearly did not know they were making a call. Perhaps it was a butt dial.

—Steve Pokin

Examples of butt-dial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Jimmy butt-dialed Chelsea, and got caught in his own lie. —Sam Reed, Glamour, 19 Mar. 2024

Had the head of Universal accidentally butt-dialed him? —Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

circa 2005, in the meaning defined above

Noun

2008, in the meaning defined above