call to arms

American  

noun

1. a command to report for active military duty.

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Etymology

Origin of call to arms

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

call to arms

This report was a call to arms from the BBC for a better funding model.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

A call to arms for big sisters everywhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

The government responded with a wider call to arms that saw thousands of men from government-allied armed factions deploy to the coast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2025

It was a call to arms, a campaign strategy session, and—above all—an honest-to-God old-fashioned Pentecostal tent revival.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2024

It’s coming, it’s coming, like a bugle, a call to arms, like a wall falling, we can feel it like a heavy stone moving down, pulled down inside us, we think we will burst.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood