call-in

[ kawl-in ]

/ ˈkɔlˌɪn /

Radio and Television.

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noun

a program in which listeners or viewers phone in comments or questions to the host or a person being interviewed.

a live telephone conversation intended for broadcasting between a program's host and a person being interviewed.

adjective

of, relating to, or featuring such phone calls or conversations: a call-in program.

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Origin of call-in

First recorded in 1960–65; noun use of verb phrase call in

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use call-in in a sentence

Note: UNICOR uses its inmates for everything from call center operators to human demolishers of old computers.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is the Mexico that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and most major U.S. corporations, are eager to call amigo.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Al Qaeda has never managed to carve out a large chunk of real estate to call its own—in Afghanistan it was a guest of the Taliban.
ISIS’s Futile Quest to Go Legit|Jamie Dettmer|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Who else would see a former spouse accused of underage sex and call him ‘the greatest man there is’?
Fergie Dives Into Prince Andrew’s Sex Scandal|Tom Sykes|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

This is a guy who has his son-in-law clean his eyeglasses, for crying out loud.
Will Chris Christie Regret His Cowboy Hug?|Matt Lewis|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Everything is topsy-turvy in Europe according to our moral ideas, and they don't have what we call "men" over here.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
It was like his beautiful courtesy to call me in and introduce me to Blow instead of letting me go away.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
After an hour, however, he reached this decision: He would not go to or call up Mrs. Merley.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
"I call you," the policeman said, and stripping the saddle and bridle from his sweaty horse, turned him loose to graze.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Such throats are trying, are they not?In case one catches cold; Ah, yes!
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for call-in

call in

verb (adverb)

(intr often foll by on) to pay a visit, esp a brief or informal onecall in if you are in the neighbourhood

(tr) to demand payment ofto call in a loan

(tr) to take (something) out of circulation, because it is defective or no longer useful

(tr) to summon to one's assistancethey had to call in a specialist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with call-in

call in

Summon for help or consultation, as in We've decided to call in a specialist to look at Father. [Second half of 1600s]

Withdraw from circulation, as in We're calling in all the old models. [Late 1500s]

Communicate by telephone, as in In this office salesmen must call in once a day. [Mid-1900s]