Definition of "dial-plate" []

• The plate of a dial, on which the lines are drawn to show the hour or time of the day. (noun)
• The face of a clock or watch, on which the time of the day is shown. (noun)
• Any kind of index-plate. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "He had now got a piece of real judicial business by the end, instead of being obliged, as was his common case, to intrude his opinion where it was neither wished nor wanted; and felt as happy in the exchange as a boy when he gets his first new watch, which actually goes when wound up, and has real hands and a true dial-plate."
• "That eminent antiquary, Dr. Dryasdust, is possessed of an antique watch, with a silver dial-plate, the mainspring being a piece of catgut instead of a chain, which bears the names of Vincent and Tunstall,"
• "Davie. — “For, as the sun goeth round the dial-plate in twenty-four hours, add, for the moon, fifty minutes and a half — —”"