collect call
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of collect call
First recorded in 1965–70
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.
“Here it is like 10 o’clock at night, who’s answering the phone? A collect call at that?”
From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2020
It has been almost two weeks, and he still will not even answer the phone, possibly a collect call from Stockholm.
From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2016
In particular, he said a collect call McCullough made from the Rockford post office on the night when Maria disappeared showed that it would have been impossible for McCullough to have abducted the girl.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2016
Lydia: On this we certainly agree: That glimpse of Jessa and Shoshanna watching “Scandal” and failing to accept a collect call from Hannah was not nearly enough of the girls for me.
From New York Times • Jan. 18, 2015
“I have a collect call from Lily Owens,” the operator said.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
