call-and-response

American  

[kawl-uhn-ri-spons] / ˈkɔl ən rɪˈspɒns /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a style of singing in which a melody sung by one singer is responded to or echoed by one or more singers.

2. noting or pertaining to rapid, spontaneous verbal and nonverbal interaction between speaker and listener, in which all statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener.

---

noun

1. call-and-response singing.

2. call-and-response interaction between speaker and listener.

call-and-response British  

noun

1. a form of interaction between a speaker and one or more listeners, in which every utterance of the speaker elicits a verbal or non-verbal response from the listener or listeners

---

Etymology

Origin of call-and-response

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

They chanted slogans vowing to “sacrifice ourselves for the South,” while an MC initiated a call-and-response.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2026

The actor picked on Camila Cabello, Anna Kendrick, Colman Domingo, James McAvoy and Celia Imrie for the call-and-response "Da da-da!" bits after the chorus.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025

The French audience needed only seconds of the latter’s familiar call-and-response from piano and horns to feel moved to applaud.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

At the rally, thousands took part in call-and-response chants they have memorized over the last two years of the war.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2025

The House of Commons gives itself to a dialogic style—to, at its best, a deft pattern of call-and-response across the despatch box.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith