call in
Americanverb phrase
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to call for payment; collect.
The family struggled because her father was unwilling to call in the debts owed to him.
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to call upon for consultation; ask for help.
Management called in an independent engineering firm to determine the cause behind the roof collapse.
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to inform, report, or request by telephone.
The electric company will reward customers with a credit if they call in their own meter readings.
Your doctor can call in the prescription to your local pharmacy.
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to participate in a meeting or a radio or television program by telephone.
The listeners who call in to my talk show about science ask the most intriguing questions.
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to visit.
We were instructed to call in to the office later to pay and complete the formal paperwork.
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to withdraw from circulation.
The country’s leader issued a proclamation calling in all gold coins and gold certificates.
noun
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Radio and Television. a program in which listeners or viewers phone in comments or questions to the host or a person being interviewed.
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Radio and Television. a live telephone conversation intended for broadcasting between a program's host and a person being interviewed.
adjective
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Radio and Television. relating to or featuring such phone calls or conversations.
My call-in program about gardening airs once a week on the local public radio station.
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being or relating to a meeting, service, etc., that is accessed by telephone.
The agenda will be sent out the morning of the meeting, along with all the call-in numbers needed.
The grant funds a call-in hotline for low-income residents in the metro area.
verb
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to pay a visit, esp a brief or informal one
call in if you are in the neighbourhood
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(tr) to demand payment of
to call in a loan
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(tr) to take (something) out of circulation, because it is defective or no longer useful
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(tr) to summon to one's assistance
they had to call in a specialist
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Summon for help or consultation, as in We've decided to call in a specialist to look at Father . [Second half of 1600s]
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Withdraw from circulation, as in We're calling in all the old models . [Late 1500s]
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Communicate by telephone, as in In this office salesmen must call in once a day . [Mid-1900s]
Etymology
Origin of call in
First recorded in 1480–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On a group call in November, they traded examples, saying they recognized neighbors, colleagues and people they’d helped to register at naturalization ceremonies.
From Salon
Mother asked, “Will this noise continue if I call in my neighbors?”
From Literature
Worldwide, the word “pilot” in reference to AI was used in about 18% fewer earnings calls in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with the third quarter, according to data from AlphaSense.
Since then, numerous witnesses have been called in to testify, among those, one of the musician’s managers.
From Los Angeles Times
Now the next generation is on hand to respond to calls in the local area.
From BBC
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.
