cold call

American  

noun

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

---

cold call British  

noun

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

---

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

Then, the 67-year-old got a cold call with the last question he was expecting.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

On 4 August, Carter made a cold call to visit Calocane at an address where he no longer lived.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

“I don’t have time to cold call all day,” said one real estate agent who asked to remain anonymous due to the potential taboo of using the technology.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2024

Back then, Taylor received a cold call from the CEO of BMG, Hartwig Masuch.

From Salon • Sep. 30, 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