call
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: kôl
ipa: /kɔːl/
ipa: [kʰoɫ]
ipa: [qʰu]
ipa: /kaːl/
ipa: /kɔl/
ipa: [kʰɔɫ]
ipa: /kɑl/
ipa: [kʰɑɫ]
ipa: [kʰɔːɫ]
ipa: /koːl/
rhymes: -ɔːl
homophone: coll (cot–caught merger)
homophone: caw (l-vocalization)
Forms: form: calls
Etymology: From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”).
Cognates
* Scots call, caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”)
* Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”),
* German kallen (“to call”)
* Swedish kalla (“to call, refer to, beckon”)
* Norwegian kalle (“to call, name”)
* Danish kalde (“to call, name”)
* Icelandic kalla (“to call, shout, name”)
* Welsh galw (“to call, demand”)
* Polish głos (“voice”)
* Lithuanian gal̃sas (“echo”)
* Russian голос (golos, “voice”)
* Albanian gjuhë (“language, tongue”).
Senses: examples: text: He heard a call from the other side of the room.
glosses: A cry or shout.
examples: text: That sound is the distinctive call of the cuckoo bird.
glosses: The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.
examples: text: I had to yield to the call of the wild.
text: Dependance is a perpetual call upon humanity, and a greater incitement to tenderness and pity, than any other motive whatsoever.
ref: 1711 October 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, September 27, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 181; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 440:
text: But they had hoped that, when peace had been restored, when no call of duty required him [William III of England] to cross the sea, he would generally, during the summer and autumn, reside in his fair palaces and parks on the banks of the Thames, [...]
ref: 1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXIII, in Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay), editor, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume V, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, →OCLC, page 117:
text: We actually have a call tomorrow, which is a Sunday, right after my bridal shower. I have to make enchiladas for 10 people!
ref: 2007, Latina, volume 11, page 101:
glosses: A beckoning or summoning.
examples: text: I received several phone calls today.
text: I received several calls today.
glosses: A telephone conversation; a phone call.
examples: text: I made a call to Jim, but he didn’t answer.
glosses: An instance of calling someone on the telephone.
examples: text: I paid a call to a dear friend of mine.
text: He [...] ſeldom waits, / Dependent on the baker's punctual call, / To hear his creaking panniers at the door, / Angry and ſad and his laſt cruſt conſumed.
ref: 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, pages 13–14:
text: Podson stayed till after five, though he handsomely apologized for outstaying a call. "The fact is, I never think of the time, when I get talking to a really intelligent woman...'
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 149:
glosses: A short visit, usually for social purposes.
examples: text: The ship made a call at Southampton.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A visit by a ship or boat to a port.
examples: text: That was a good call.
text: Fair call actually, because don't the girls blow up when you miss an anniversary?
ref: 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 2:
glosses: A decision or judgement.
examples: text: The Prime Minister has the call.
text: I give the call to the Manager of Opposition Business.
glosses: The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.
topics: business
finance
glosses: Ellipsis of call option.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The act of calling to the other batsman.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)
examples: text: page 48: “Mondays would be great, especially after a weekend of call.”
page 56: “[…] I’ve got call tonight, and all weekend, but I’ll be off tomorrow to help you some.”
ref: 1978, Alan E. Nourse, The Practice, Harper & Row, →ISBN:
text: I took general-surgery call at Bossier Medical Center and asked special permission to take general-medical call, which was gladly given away by the older staff members: […]. You would be surprised at how many surgical cases came out of medical call.
ref: 2007, William D. Bailey, You Will Never Run out of Jesus, CrossHouse Publishing,, →ISBN, page 29:
text: We attempted to include all topics that we ourselves have faced while taking plastic surgery call at the affiliated hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, one of the largest medical centers in the world, which sees over 100,000 patients per day.
ref: 2008, Jamal M. Bullocks et al., Plastic Surgery Emergencies: Principles and Techniques, Thieme, →ISBN, page ix:
text: The columns in the second rectangle show fewer hours, but part of that is due to the fact that there's a division between a work call and a show call.
ref: 2009, Steven Louis Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, page 171:
glosses: A work shift which requires one to be available when requested, i.e. on call.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.
examples: text: There was a 20 dollar bet on the table, and my call was 9.
glosses: A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
topics: card-games
poker
glosses: The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.
glosses: A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.
glosses: A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.
glosses: An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
glosses: Vocation; employment; calling.
topics: law
glosses: A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.
examples: text: "They have a little network of women that watch out for each other," Morford said. That means that if one prostitute doesn't come back after going out on a call – whether it's an Internet prostitute or a streetwalker – and the other women can't get hold of her, they get scared, close up shop and won't work, Morford said.
ref: 2015 March 3, Lyda Longa, “Internet hookups mean fewer prostitutes on Daytona’s streets, police say”, in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla.:
topics: lifestyle
prostitution
sexuality
glosses: A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.
examples: text: The work was done by two lawyers, one a 1983 call and the other a 2010 call.
ref: 2020 October 28, Master K.E. Jolley, “Korlyakov v. Riesz, 2020 ONSC 6622”, in CanLII, retrieved 19 Jun 2021:
topics: law
glosses: A lawyer who was called to the bar (became licensed as a lawyer) in a specified year.
examples: text: There's no call for that kind of bad language!
text: CALL 2 need for. "There worn't noa call for nowt o't'soart."
ref: 1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 11:
glosses: Need; necessity.
raw_tags: in negative constructions
Hyponyms: altar call
bird call
booty call
broker's call
bugle call
calendar call
cat call
cold call
collect call
conference call
courtesy call
crank call
curtain call
distress call
duck call
forecall
function call
house call
mail call
margin call
missed call
money call
naked call
nuisance call
phantom abandoned call
phone call
prank call
put-call
roll call
self-call
service call
sick call
tail call
telephone call
toll call
turkey call
uncovered call
wake-up call
Derived terms: aftercall
altar call
answer the call
answer the call of nature
ass call
at call
auction call
beck and call
birdcall
bird call
boatswain's call
booty call
broker's call
bugle call
butt call
calendar call
call and response
call bird
callboard
call board
call-board
call bond
callbook
call box
callbox
callboy
call button
call by future
call by name
call by need
call by reference
call-by-value
call center
call centre
call date
call delay
call drink
call fire
call for help
call forwarding
call girl
callgirl
call graph
call history
call house
call leaf
call letters
call liquor
call loan
call mark
call money
call money rate
call note
call number
call of duty
call of nature
call of the wild
call option
call originator
callout
call-out
call point
call premium
call price
call protection
call rate
call risk
call rule
call screening
callset
call sheet
call-shy
call sign
callsign
call site
call slip
call stack
calltip
call to action
call to arms
call to prayer
call to the bar
call tree
callup
call-up
call value
call waiting
call-with-current-continuation
captain's call
casting call
cat call
catcall
cattle call
check-call
chow call
clarion call
close call
cold call
collect call
conference call
contact call
countercall
courtesy call
covered call
crank call
crying call
curtain call
distress call
downcall
drastic times call for drastic measures
duck call
firecall
first call
first port of call
flat call
foodie call
forecall
function call
ghost call
hang-up call
hero call
hog call
house call
house of call
insta-call
international call prefix
Jody call
judgement call
last call
mail call
makeup call
margin call
mating call
midcall
missed call
money call
moosecall
naked call
no-call-no-show
noncall
nuisance call
on call
on-call
open call
overcall
party call
phantom call
phee-call
phone call
photocall
pocket call
port of call
prank call
procedure call
put-call
remote procedure call
reverse 911 call
robocall
roll call
safety call
seet call
self-call
servants' call
service call
sick call
siren call
subroutine call
tail call
telecall
telephone call
the call is coming from inside the house
toll call
tough call
trumpet call
trunk call
turkey call
uncovered call
upcall
video call
voice call
wake-up call
wakeup call
watering call
within call
wolf call