calling card
Americannoun
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Also called card, visiting card. a small card with the name and often the address of a person or of a couple, for presenting when making a business or social call, for enclosing in gifts, etc.
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Informal. any mark, sign, trace, characteristic, or the like by which someone or something can be recognized.
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Also called phone card. a prepaid card or charge card that can be used to make a telephone call at home or away from home.
noun
Etymology
Origin of calling card
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
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.
The findings suggest that BFAs could function as a durable chemical "calling card" that helps preserve information about individual identity.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Or is the Scotland faithful's new calling card here to stay?
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Short seller Andrew Left’s conviction this week on securities-fraud charges has shocked an influential niche of the stock market whose calling card is its ability to affect stock prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Unexpectedly, Walden’s band became his calling card, ultimately drawing prominent record producer David Foster into his orbit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
First she’d been seen by a human, and then she’d left a moth behind like a calling card.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
