summon
Americanverb (used with object)
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to call upon to do something specified.
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to call for the presence of, as by command, message, or signal; call.
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to call or notify to appear at a specified place, especially before a court.
to summon a defendant.
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to authorize or order a gathering of; call together by authority, as for deliberation or action.
to summon parliament.
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to call into action; rouse; call forth (often. followed byup ).
to summon all one's courage.
verb
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to order to come; send for, esp to attend court, by issuing a summons
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to order or instruct (to do something) or call (to something)
the bell summoned them to their work
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to call upon to meet or convene
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(often foll by up) to muster or gather (one's strength, courage, etc)
Related Words
See call.
Other Word Forms
- resummon verb (used with object)
- summonable adjective
- summoner noun
- unsummonable adjective
Etymology
Origin of summon
First recorded in 1175–1225; from Medieval Latin summonēre “to summon,” Latin: “to remind unofficially, suggest,” equivalent to sum- sum- + monēre “to remind, warn”; replacing Middle English somonen, from Old French semondre, somondre, from unattested Vulgar Latin summonere, Latin summonēre, as above
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.
They can be summoned via the third-party app Honk, which chiefly is used by tow truck operators to find stranded customers.
From Los Angeles Times
It added it was investigating the violations and will summon X's representatives.
From Barron's
They will resist, they will refuse, they will mock and they will summon all their talent and creativity to tell the truth.
From Salon
Birmingham's council leader has been summoned to give evidence to MPs over a controversial decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending an Aston Villa match.
From BBC
But Europe always struggles painfully to summon the presence to act on its own unrepealable strategic interests.
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.
