call on
Idioms-
Also, call upon.
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Make a request, ask for, choose, as in We are calling upon you to run for chairman , or The teacher called on Joe to answer . [c. 1400]
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Pay a brief visit, as in The salesman said he'd call on me in the morning . Shakespeare had this usage in Antony and Cleopatra (1:4): “I'll call upon you ere you go to bed.” [Late 1500s]
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.
It retains a neutral call on the stock.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Steyer announced endorsements from lawmakers including Northern California Rep. Jared Huffman, who was among the first House Democrats to call on Swalwell to resign from Congress.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
“She needs to call on her husband to get the remainder of the files released,” he said in an interview with MS NOW.
From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026
Katie Swan is also in Melbourne with the British team, and Australia could call on a 17-year-old of their own, as Emerson Jones is the fifth member of their squad.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
It said that Mr. Maroney would send a friend of his, disguised as a book peddler, to call on the sister’s house this evening, and that Mrs. Maroney was to give over everything to him.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
