distress call

noun

1. a prearranged communication code sign indicating that the sender is in a situation of peril, distress, or the like, as SOS, Mayday, etc. Compare distress signal ( def 1 ).
2. a communication prompted by or indicating distress:

   The hospital sent out distress calls for all available stocks of the antitoxin.

Word History and Origins

Origin of distress call¹

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Hospitals in the states of Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat have been issuing distress calls for urgent supplies of oxygen.

From Time

Even if their oxygen masks had deployed, there is a microphone in the masks to enable them to send a distress call.

From The Daily Beast

However…the failure to send a distress call still undermines the neatness of this picture.

From The Daily Beast

There was no distress call from the pilots, and no previous hint of a technical problem.

From The Daily Beast

No distress call was made, and weather was apparently not problematic in the area.

From The Daily Beast

When the horn on a nearby truck blared, he for some reason became convinced it was a distress call from a fellow soldier.

From The Daily Beast

When the pair was grasped, the female emitted a distress call.

From Project Gutenberg

A coastal passenger ship off Hatteras sent out a frantic radio distress call.

From Project Gutenberg

A quiet, but squealing distress call was also first noted on the seventh day, when the young were handled.

From Project Gutenberg

As I lifted the four nine-day-old young from the nest for weighing, they began to give the distress call.

From Project Gutenberg

One of these birds gave a chipping note similar to the distress call of adults.

From Project Gutenberg