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

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

This is what happened in Patricia's case, according to a surveyor who inspected the roof in 2025, following a cold call from a housing company claiming to be government-backed.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

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

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