calling card
Americannoun
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Also called card, visiting card. a small card with the name and often the address of a person or of a couple, for presenting when making a business or social call, for enclosing in gifts, etc.
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Informal. any mark, sign, trace, characteristic, or the like by which someone or something can be recognized.
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Also called phone card. a prepaid card or charge card that can be used to make a telephone call at home or away from home.
noun
Etymology
Origin of calling card
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
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.
Volatility has been silver’s calling card in recent months but even by recent standards the last week has been a roller-coaster ride.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 13, 2026
The Dead’s graphic symbols, including “dancing” bears, the “Stealie” lightning skull and instrument-wielding terrapins, were plastered across innumerable merchandise and became a calling card of hippie-influenced counterculture over the ensuing decades.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2026
With 2.5 million views on YouTube, the scene became a calling card for the show—and Sheridan’s point of view.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 6, 2025
This is in keeping with the show’s calling card of marrying high and low culinary traditions, transforming the concept of upscale into a state of mind.
From Salon • Oct. 25, 2025
An enameled brooch and tortoiseshell calling card case belonging to Leah.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
