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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of call-and-response

First recorded in 1820–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

call-and-response

“Who keeps us safe?” began a popular call-and-response protest chant I first heard during the George Floyd uprising and that resurfaced during Metro Surge.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

He pioneered the Afrobeat genre alongside drummer Tony Allen, blending West African rhythms, jazz, funk, highlife, extended improvisation, call-and-response vocals and politically charged lyricism.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026

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

She didn’t have any formal music training, instead drawing on what was around her growing up: gospel music and call-and-response folk traditions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2024

For me, it revived an old internal call-and-response, one that tracked all the way back to high school, when I’d shown up at Whitney Young and found myself suddenly gripped by doubt.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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