cold call

American  

noun

1. a visit or telephone call to a prospective customer without an appointment or a previous introduction.

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cold call British  

noun

1. a call made by a salesman on a potential customer without making an appointment

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verb

1. to call on (a potential customer) without making an appointment

Other Word Forms

• cold caller
  noun
• cold calling
  noun

Etymology

Origin of cold call

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

He’d never spoken to Wesley Yates III but was familiar enough with the guard from Beaumont, Texas, to cold call him in 2021 to offer a scholarship.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2025

"It was a cold call but we received a very warm reception, and Donald Trump has a photograph of us all on his office wall."

From BBC • Jan. 16, 2025

Did you just cold call her too, or did you know her previously?

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2023

“It’s not a cold call, but a quicker way to vulnerability and hitting the royal flush.”

From Washington Times • Mar. 23, 2023

The company’s marketing manager, Rajesh Rao, told me that he had just made a cold call to the VP for engineering of a U.S. company, trying to drum up business.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman