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call
[ kawl ]
verb (used with object)
- to cry out in a loud voice; shout:
He called her name to see if she was home.
- to command or request to come; summon:
to call a dog;
to call a cab;
to call a witness.
- to ask or invite to come:
Will you call the family to dinner?
- to communicate or try to communicate with by telephone:
Call me when you arrive.
- to rouse from sleep, as by a call; waken:
Call me at eight o'clock.
- to read over (a roll or a list) in a loud voice.
- to convoke or convene:
We will now call Congress into session.
- to announce authoritatively; proclaim:
The company called a halt to production of their latest line after many items failed quality checks.
- to order into effect; decree:
The union is planning to call a strike late this year.
- to schedule:
The director should call one more rehearsal before opening night.
- to summon by or as if by divine command:
He felt called to the ministry.
- to summon to an office, duty, etc.:
His country called him to service during the Korean War.
- to cause to come; bring:
to call to mind;
to call into existence.
- to bring under consideration or discussion:
The judge called the case to court.
- to attract or lure (birds or animals) by imitating characteristic sounds.
- to direct or attract (attention):
He called his roommate's attention to the mess.
- to name or address (someone) as:
His parents named him James, but the boys call him Jim.
- to designate as something specified:
He called me a liar.
I call that a mean remark.
- to demand of (someone) that they fulfill a promise, furnish evidence for a statement, etc.:
They called him on his story.
- to criticize adversely; express disapproval of; censure:
She called him on his vulgar language.
- to demand payment or fulfillment of (a loan).
- to demand presentation of (bonds) for redemption.
- to forecast correctly:
He has called the outcome of the last three elections.
- Sports. (of an official)
- to pronounce a judgment on (a shot, pitch, batter, etc.):
The umpire called the pitch a strike.
- to put an end to (a contest) because of inclement weather, poor field conditions, etc.:
A sudden downpour forced the umpire to call the game.
- Pool. to name (the ball) one intends to drive into a particular pocket.
- Computers. to invoke (a subroutine or procedure) in a computer program.
- Cards.
- to demand (a card).
- to demand the display of a hand by (a player).
- Poker. to equal (a bet) or equal the bet made by (the preceding bettor) in a round.
- Bridge. to signal one's partner for a lead of (a certain card or suit).
verb (used without object)
She called to the children.
- to telephone or try to telephone a person:
He promised to call at noon.
- to make a short visit; stop at a place on some errand or business:
She called at the store for the package.
- Cards.
- to demand a card.
- to demand a showing of hands.
- Poker. to equal a bet.
- Bridge. to bid or pass.
- (of a bird or animal) to utter its characteristic cry.
noun
- a cry or shout:
She gave a call across the lawn to her friend.
- the cry or vocal sound of a bird or other animal:
A crow's call sounds different from a raven's.
- an instrument for imitating this cry and attracting or luring an animal:
He bought a duck call.
- an act or instance of telephoning:
She returned his call as soon as her meeting was over.
- a short visit:
to make a call on someone.
- a summons or signal sounded by a bugle, bell, etc.:
We live so close to the fort that we can hear the bugle calls.
- a summons, invitation, or bidding:
The students gathered at the call of the dean.
- a calling of a roll; roll call.
- the fascination or appeal of a given place, vocation, etc.:
the call of the sea.
- a mystic experience of divine appointment to a vocation or service:
He had a call to become a minister.
- a request or invitation to become pastor of a church, a professor in a university, etc.
- a need or occasion:
He had no call to say such outrageous things.
- a demand or claim:
to make a call on a person's time.
- a demand for payment of an obligation, especially where payment is at the option of the creditor.
- Cards.
- a demand for a card or a showing of hands.
- Poker. an equaling of the preceding bet.
- Bridge. a bid or pass.
- Sports. a judgment or decision by an umpire, a referee, or other official of a contest, as on a shot, pitch, or batter:
The referees were making one bad call after another.
- Theater.
- a notice of rehearsal posted by the stage manager.
- Dance. a figure or direction in square dancing, announced to the dancers by the caller.
- Also called call option. Finance. an option that gives the right to buy a fixed amount of a particular stock at a predetermined price within a given period of time, purchased by a person who believes the price will rise. Compare put ( def 24 ).
- Fox Hunting. any of several cries, or sounds made on a horn by the hunter to encourage the hounds.
verb phrase
- to ask; appeal to:
They called on him to represent them.
- to visit for a short time:
to call on friends.
- to request or pray for; invoke:
to call down the wrath of God.
- to reprimand; scold:
The boss called us down for lateness.
- to distract; take away:
Please call off your dog.
- to cancel (something) that had been planned for a certain date:
The performance was called off because of rain.
- to summon into action; bring into existence:
to call forth her courage and resolve.
- to cause to leave or go; summon:
A death in the family called him away.
- to bring forward for consideration or discussion.
- to cause to remember; evoke.
- to communicate or try to communicate with by telephone.
- to summon for action or service:
A large number of Army reservists were called up.
- Computers. to summon (information) from a computer system for display on a screen:
She called up the full text.
call
/ kɔːl /
verb
- often foll by out to speak or utter (words, sounds, etc) loudly so as to attract attention
he called out her name
- tr to ask or order to come
to call a policeman
- intrsometimes foll byon to make a visit (to)
she called on him
- often foll by up to telephone (a person)
he called back at nine
- tr to summon to a specific office, profession, etc
he was called to the ministry
- (of animals or birds) to utter (a characteristic sound or cry)
- tr to summon (a bird or animal) by imitating its cry
- tr to name or style
they called the dog Rover
- tr to designate
they called him a coward
- dialect.tr to speak ill of or scold
- tr to regard in a specific way
I call it a foolish waste of time
- tr to attract (attention)
- tr to read (a list, register, etc) aloud to check for omissions or absentees
- whentr, usually foll by for to give an order (for)
to call a strike
- intr to try to predict the result of tossing a coin
- tr to awaken
I was called early this morning
- tr to cause to assemble
to call a meeting
- tr sport (of an umpire, referee, etc) to pass judgment upon (a shot, player, etc) with a call
- tr to broadcast a commentary on (a horse race or other sporting event)
- tr to demand repayment of (a loan, redeemable bond, security, etc)
- troften foll byup accounting to demand payment of (a portion of a share issue not yet paid by subscribers)
- tr to award (a student at an Inn of Court) the degree of barrister (esp in the phrase call to the bar )
- tr computing to transfer control to (a named subprogram)
- tr poker to demand that (a player) expose his hand, after equalling his bet
- intr bridge to make a bid
- (in square-dancing) to call out (instructions) to the dancers
- billiards to ask (a player) to say what kind of shot he will play or (of a player) to name his shot
- intrfoll byfor
- to require
this problem calls for study
- to come or go (for) in order to fetch
I will call for my book later
- intr; foll by on or upon to make an appeal or request (to)
they called upon him to reply
- tr to predict the outcome of an event
we don't know yet if the plan has succeeded because it's too soon to call
- call into beingto create
- call into playto begin to operate
- call in question or call into questionSee question
- call it a dayto stop work or other activity
- too close to call(of the outcome of a competition, election, match, etc) unable to be predicted
- call to mindto remember or cause to be remembered
noun
- a cry or shout
- the characteristic cry of a bird or animal
- a device, such as a whistle, intended to imitate the cry of a bird or animal
- a summons or invitation
- a summons or signal sounded on a horn, bugle, etc
- hunting any of several notes or patterns of notes, blown on a hunting horn as a signal
- hunting
- an imitation of the characteristic cry of a wild animal or bird to lure it to the hunter
- an instrument for producing such an imitation
- a short visit
the doctor made six calls this morning
- an inner urge to some task or profession; vocation
- allure or fascination, esp of a place
the call of the forest
- the summons to the bar of a student member of an Inn of Court
- need, demand, or occasion
there is no call to shout
we don't get much call for stockings these days
- demand or claim (esp in the phrase the call of duty )
- theatre a notice to actors informing them of times of rehearsals
- (in square dancing) an instruction to execute new figures
- a conversation or a request for a connection by telephone
- commerce
- a demand for repayment of a loan
- ( as modifier )
call money
- finance
- a demand for redeemable bonds or shares to be presented for repayment
- a demand for an instalment payment on the issue price of bonds or shares
- billiards a demand to an opponent to say what kind of shot he will play
- poker a demand for a hand or hands to be exposed
- bridge a bid, or a player's turn to bid
- a decision or judgment
it's your call
- sport a decision of an umpire or referee regarding a shot, pitch, etc
- a broadcast commentary on a horse race or other sporting event
- Also calledcall option stock exchange an option to buy a stated amount of securities at a specified price during a specified period Compare put
- See roll call
- call for marginstock exchange a demand made by a stockbroker for partial payment of a client's debt due to decreasing value of the collateral
- call of natureSee nature
- on call
- (of a loan, etc) repayable on demand
- available to be called for work outside normal working hours
- within callwithin range; accessible
Other Words From
- un·called adjective
- well-called adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of call1
Word History and Origins
Origin of call1
Idioms and Phrases
- on call,
- payable or subject to return without advance notice.
- readily available for summoning upon short notice.
- take a call, to acknowledge the applause of the audience after a performance by appearing for a bow or a curtain call.
- within call, within distance or range of being spoken to or summoned:
Please stay within call.
- call in sick. sick 1( def 14 ).
- call to order. order ( def 48 ).
More idioms and phrases containing call
- above and beyond (the call of duty)
- at someone's beck and call
- close call
- dressing (calling) down
- no call for
- on call
- pay a call
- pot calling the kettle black
- too close to call
- uncalled for
- wake-up call
- within call
Synonym Study
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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