call on
Idioms-
Also, call upon.
-
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]
-
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’s been hard to make a fundamental call on the stock — I mean, that’s been the case for 10 years — but to me, it’s really a technical call.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
Craig Mather was teaching his musical theatre class when he received a call on Thursday from a director to say that their lead had fallen ill.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
At times, Constance may call on various audience members to act as a dance partner.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
Now, make your own call on whether or how much you want to invest.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
In the age of photography, we have come to see portraits as mere likenesses and we readily forget that they call on all our skill to grasp their meaning.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
