Word.ws English Dictionary

call

/kɔːl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/koːl/

call verb: to request, summon, or beckon. Also the ellipsis of call option.

call: to request, summon, or beckon
Image: Banque, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

call (third-person singular simple present calls, present participle calling, simple past and past participle called or (archaic) call'd)

  1. (intransitive) To request, summon, or beckon.
    • That person is hurt; call for help!
    • So they called for Rooms; and he ſhewed them one for Christiana and her Children and Mercy, and another for Mr. Great-heart and the old Gentleman.1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. From This World to That which is to Come: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally...
  2. (intransitive) To cry or shout.
    • "Supper's ready," called Dad from the kitchen.
    • If you heare a child crie in the night you must call to the nurſe and bid her ſtil it.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act...
  3. (transitive) To utter in a loud or distinct voice.
    • to call the roll of a military company
    • Not ballad-ſinger plac'd above the croud, / Sings with a note ſo ſhrilling ſweet and loud, / Nor pariſh clerk who calls the pſalm ſo clear, / Like Bowzybeus ſooths th' attentive ear.1714, J[ohn] Gay, “Saturday; or, The Flights”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], →OCLC, page 56, lines 47–50
  4. (ambitransitive) To contact by telephone.
    • Why don’t you call me in the morning?
    • Why don’t you call tomorrow?
    Synonyms:
    drop a line, ring, get on the horn, give someone a ring, give someone a bell, telephone, call up, dial up, give someone a buzz, give someone a call
  5. (transitive) To rouse from sleep; to awaken.
    • Take not away the Taper, leaue it burning: / And if thou canſt awake by foure o’th’clock, / I prythee call me: Sleepe hath ceiz’d me wholly.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  6. (transitive, jazz) To request that one's band play (a particular tune).
    • They called I Got Rhythm, and turned to me again for a solo, and I said what?1997, Saxophone Journal
    • Jeff Castleman and Rufus Jones were in position when they went out, and he immediately called Satin Doll.2002, Ken Vail, Duke's Diary
  7. (Yorkshire, transitive) To scold.
    • CALL 1 scold1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 11
  8. (intransitive) To pay a (social) visit (often used with "on", "round", or "at"; used by salespeople with "again" to invite customers to come again).
    • We could always call on a friend.
    • The engineer called round whilst you were away.
  9. (intransitive) To stop at a station or port.
    • This train calls at Reading, Slough and London Paddington.
    • Our cruise ship called at Bristol Harbour.
  10. (intransitive) To come to pass; to afflict.
    • They say your love will surely fade, girl, / When things go wrong and trouble calls.1968 December 8, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Moy, Stevie Wonder, “I’d Be a Fool Right Now”, in For Once in My Life, performed by Stevie Wonder, Tamla Records
  11. (ditransitive) To name or refer to.
    • Why don’t we dispense with the formalities? Please call me Al.
    • Don't call me a liar.
  12. (passive voice) Of a person, to have as one's name; of a thing, to have as its name.
    • I’m called John.
    • A very tall building is called a skyscraper.
Show 20 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to characterize without strict regard to fact.
    • They call the distance ten miles.
    • That’s enough work. Let's call it a day and go home.
  2. (transitive) To claim the existence of some malfeasance; to denounce as.
    • I call bullshit.
    • She called foul on their scheme.
  3. (obsolete) To disclose the class or character of; to identify.
    • This ſpeech calls him Spaniard, being nothing but / A large inventory of his own commendations.c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. […], [part 1], London: […] J[ohn] Macock [and H. Hills], for John Martyn, Henry...
  4. (transitive) To declare in advance.
    • The captains call the coin toss.
  5. (transitive) To predict.
    • He called twelve of the last three recessions.
  6. (transitive) To formally recognise a death: especially to announce and record the time, place and fact of a person’s death.
    • “Let’s call it. Time of death, 08:45.” The respiratory therapist stopped bagging. The doctor stopped CPR. There was no heartbeat on the monitor. Michael was dead.1997, Joanni Nelson Horchler, Robin Rice Morris, The SIDS Survival Guide: Information and Comfort for Grieving Family and Friends and Professionals who Seek to Help Them, page 33
    • EXAMPLES: Time of death was called at 16:34(Incorrect). Time of death was called at 1634 p.m.(Incorrect). Time of death was called at 1634 hours(Correct). NOTE: Military (or 24-hour) time is not used with a.m, p.m, or o’clock. It is frequently used to state birth and death times, as well as time of...2012, Marcy O. Diehl, Medical Transcription: Techniques and Procedures (Seventh Edition), page 127
  7. To declare (an effort or project) to be a failure.
    • After the third massive failure, John called the whole initiative.
  8. To make a decision as a referee or umpire.
    • The goal was called offside.
  9. (of a batsman): To shout directions to the other batsman on whether or not they should take a run.
  10. (of a fielder): To shout to other fielders that he intends to take a catch (thus avoiding collisions).
  11. To tell in advance which shot one is attempting.
    • Every shot must be called.
  12. (intransitive) To equal the same amount that other players are currently betting.
    • I bet $800 and Jane raised to $1600. My options: call (match her $1600 bet), reraise, or fold.
  13. (intransitive, proscribed) To match the current bet amount, in preparation for a raise in the same turn. (Usually, players are forbidden to announce one's play this way.)
    • I’ll call your 300, and raise to 600!
  14. (transitive) To state, or invoke a rule, in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
    • My partner called two spades.
  15. (sometimes, transitive) To require, demand.
    • He felt called to help the old man.
  16. (transitive) To cause to be verbally subjected to.
    • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.1910, Emerson Hough, “The Gateway, and Some Who Passed”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 29
    • The basis for his conclusion was called into doubt
  17. (colloquial, transitive) To lay claim to an object or role which is up for grabs.
    • I call the comfy chair!
    • Mr. Burns: Any of these islands would make a fine new country. / Homer: I call president! / Mr. Burns: Vice president! / Smithers: [groans]1998, “The Trouble with Trillions”, in The Simpsons, season 9
  18. (transitive) To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
  19. (transitive) To demand repayment of a loan.
  20. (transitive) To jump to (another part of a program); to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.
    • A recursive function is one that calls itself.

Noun (1)

call (countable and uncountable, plural calls)

  1. A cry or shout.
    • He heard a call from the other side of the room.
  2. The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.
    • That sound is the distinctive call of the cuckoo bird.
  3. A beckoning or summoning.
    • I had to yield to the call of the wild.
    • Dependance is a perpetual call upon humanity, and a greater incitement to tenderness and pity, than any other motive whatsoever.1711 October 7 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, September 27, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 181; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator...
  4. A telephone conversation; a phone call.
    • I received several phone calls today.
    • I received several calls today.
  5. An instance of calling someone on the telephone.
    • I made a call to Jim, but he didn’t answer.
  6. A short visit, usually for social purposes.
    • I paid a call to a dear friend of mine.
    • 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.1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, pages 13–14
  7. A visit by a ship or boat to a port.
    • The ship made a call at Southampton.
  8. A decision or judgement.
    • That was a good call.
    • Fair call actually, because don't the girls blow up when you miss an anniversary?1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 2
  9. The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.
    • The Prime Minister has the call.
    • I give the call to the Manager of Opposition Business.
  10. The act of calling to the other batsman.
  11. The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)
  12. (uncountable) A work shift which requires one to be available when requested, i.e. on call.
    • 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.”1978, Alan E. Nourse, The Practice, Harper & Row, →ISBN
Show 12 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.
  2. A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
    • There was a 20 dollar bet on the table, and my call was 9.
  3. The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.
  4. A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.
  5. A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.
  6. A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.
  7. An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
  8. (archaic) Vocation; employment; calling.
  9. (US) 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.
  10. (informal, slang) A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.
    • "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...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.
  11. A lawyer who was called to the bar (became licensed as a lawyer) in a specified year.
    • The work was done by two lawyers, one a 1983 call and the other a 2010 call.2020 October 28, Master K.E. Jolley, “Korlyakov v. Riesz, 2020 ONSC 6622”, in CanLII, retrieved 19 Jun 2021
  12. Need; necessity.
    • There's no call for that kind of bad language!
    • CALL 2 need for. "There worn't noa call for nowt o't'soart."1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 11

Noun (2) capitalized: CALL

CALL (uncountable)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of computer-assisted language learning.

Proper noun capitalized: Call

Call

  1. A surname.

Also used as

call is also the ellipsis of call option.

call meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

call in Hindi

to request, summon, or beckon
पुकारना pukārnā, बुलाना bulānā
to cry or shout
चिल्लाना cillānā
to contact by telephone
फ़ोन करना fon karnā
to name or refer to
कहना kahnā

call in Tamil

to request, summon, or beckon
அழை aḻai, கூப்பிடு kūppiṭu
to contact by telephone
ஃபோன் பண்ணு fōṉ paṇṇu

call in Urdu

to request, summon, or beckon
پکارنا pukārnā, بلانا bulānā
to contact by telephone
فون کرنا fon karnā, ملانا milānā
to name or refer to
کہنا kahnā
telephone conversation
فون fon

call in Bengali

to request, summon, or beckon
ডাকা ḍaka
More languagesFewer languages
call in Telugu
పిలుచు pilucu, అను anu, పిలుపు pilupu
call in Sanskrit
गृणाति gṛṇāti
call in Assamese
মতা mota, মাতা mata
call in Pashto
بلل baləl
call in Tagalog
tawagan, tawag
call in Arabic
دَعَا daʕā, نَادَى nādā, اِتَّصَلَ بِـ ittaṣala bi-, سَمَّى sammā
call in Malay
panggil, panggilan
call in Indonesian
menelepon, telepon
call in Persian
صدا زدن sedâ zadan, تلفن کردن telefon kardan, زنگ زدن zang zadan, زنگیدن zangidan
call in Thai
เรียก rîiak, โทรหา thoo-hǎa, โทร too-rá-, โทรศัพท์ too-rá-sàp
call in Vietnamese
gọi, kêu, gọi điện thoại
call in Myanmar
အော် au, ဆင့် hcang.

Examples of call in a sentence

  • For far—oh, very far behind, / So far she cannot call to him, / Comes Tegumai alone to find / The daughter that was all to him!1902, Rudyard Kipling, “How the Alphabet was Made”, in Just So Stories: For Little Children, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company...
  • I thought he forgot all about it, but late in the set he called St.2015, Clyde E. B. Bernhardt, I Remember: Eighty Years of Black Entertainment, Big Bands, and the Blues, University of Pennsylvania Press...
  • [...] He ordered Her to call at His Houſe once a Week, which She did for ſome Time; after which He heard no more of Her.a. 1700 (date written), William Temple, “Of Health and Long-life”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. […], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […]...
  • Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...

All 40 example sentences with call

Synonyms of call

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of call

Forms of call

Verb
third-person singular presentcalls
present participlecalling
past participlecalled
pastcalled
past participle (archaic)call'd
past (archaic)call'd
second-person singular present (archaic)callest
second-person singular past (archaic)calledst
third-person singular present (archaic)calleth
Noun
pluralcalls

Past tense of call: called

Plural of call: calls

Origin of call

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 Low German kallen (“to speak, 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”).

* As an Irish surname, shortened from McCall. * As an English surname, from the noun caul (“kind of headdress or cap”). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English calwe (“bald”). * Also as an English surname, from a Middle English derivative of Latin caulae (“sheepfold”). * As a Catalan surname, from the noun call (“narrow track”), from Latin callis (“path”). Compare Calle. * As a German surname, Americanized from Koll, Goll.

Words formed from call

Phrases with call

168 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with call

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about call

What does call mean?
Call means to request, summon, or beckon.
What is call in Hindi?
Call in Hindi is पुकारना (pukārnā), बुलाना (bulānā), चिल्लाना (cillānā). See Call meaning in Hindi.
How do you use call in a sentence?
For far—oh, very far behind, / So far she cannot call to him, / Comes Tegumai alone to find / The daughter that was all to him!
What part of speech is call?
Call can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce call?
Call is pronounced /kɔːl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of call?
The past tense of call is called.

Words near call in the dictionary

  1. calking iron
  2. calking irons
  3. calkings
  4. calkins
  5. calks
  6. call
  7. call 'em as one sees 'em
  8. call a cab
  9. call a go
  10. call a halt
  11. call a lid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: call (page history and authors); CALL (page history and authors); Call (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-to call.ogg, en-us-call.ogg, en-au-call.ogg.

Cite this entry: “call.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/call. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.