trunk call

American  

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a long-distance phone call.

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trunk call British  

noun

1. a long-distance telephone call

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Etymology

Origin of trunk call

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trunk call

That would make it a trunk call - get it?

From Children's BBC ● Jun. 25, 2012

The telephone bell rings with the petulant persistence that marks a trunk call, and I go in from some ineffectual gymnastics on the lawn to deal with the irruption.

From An Englishman Looks at the World by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

While the landlady, therefore, ordered the tea, Everard went out to the public telephone, asked for a trunk call, and rang up No. 169 Balderton.

From The Princess of the School by Frank Wiles

The telephone squealed shrilly; it was a trunk call from Nemesis.

From The Toys of Peace, and other papers by Saki

Then he asked the post-office for a trunk call to Paris, and after an hour's wait he was put in touch with the headquarters of the Europe Chronicle.

From Swirling Waters by Max Rittenberg

Related Words

• local call
• long-distance call
• phone call
• telephone conversation