Periods of time read from dial? Yes, oddly (4)
I believe the answer is:
days
'periods of time' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dial? yes oddly' is the wordplay.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters.
'dial'+'yes'='dialyes'
The alternate letters of 'dialyes' are 'DAYS'.
'read from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for days that I've seen before include "Units of time" , "Periods (of week)" , "Time period(s)" , "See 7 and 18" , "Times" .)