Word.ws English Dictionary

call-out

call-out is the alternative spelling of callout.

call-out is the misspelling of call out.

Meaning of callout

Noun

callout (plural callouts)

  1. An outgoing telephone call.
  2. An instance of being summoned to visit a certain place in order to provide assistance; an instance of summoning someone who is on call.
    • I had to pay for the callout of the plumber after the pipe burst.
  3. (US) A meeting or rally held in order to find interested participants, e.g. for an activity or sports team.
    • So many people attended the basketball callout that the coach decided to form two teams.
  4. (slang) An invitation to fight.
  5. A request for people to join or take part.
    • […] a callout for volunteers to fill hundreds of sandbags.2022, David Hendy, The BBC: A People's History
  6. (graphic layout) A pull quote: an excerpt from an article (such as in a news magazine) that is duplicated in a large font alongside the article so as to grab a reader's attention and indicate the article's topic.
    • Ancient Egypt: Civilization in northeastern Africa that gives reference volumes a chance to change up the pace a little and break up the monotonous, text-heavy format with more graphical elements, timelines, and a few callout boxes.2012, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, page 64

See all 11 meanings of callout

Meaning of call out

Verb

call out (third-person singular simple present calls out, present participle calling out, simple past and past participle called out)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To specify, especially in detail.
    • They call out 304 stainless steel in the drawing, but the part was made from aluminum.
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To order into service; to summon into service.
    • The Governor called out the National Guard.
    Synonyms:
    summon
  3. (intransitive, transitive) To yell out; to vocalize audibly; announce.
    • You just call out my name / And you know wherever I am / I'll come running to see you again.1971, Carole King, “You’ve Got A Friend”, Tapestry, Ode Records
  4. (archaic, transitive) To challenge (someone) to a duel.
  5. (slang, transitive) To challenge (someone) to a fight.
  6. (colloquial, idiomatic, transitive) To criticize or denounce (someone); to bring up previously unspoken criticisms about (someone); to point out (someone's) faults.
    • He was very insulting. Finally Jack called him out and shut him up.

See all 7 meanings of call out

Forms of call-out

pluralcall-outs

Origin of call-out

Deverbal from call out.

Phrases with call-out

Questions about call-out

What is call-out the alternative spelling of?
Call-out is the alternative spelling of callout.

Words near call-out in the dictionary

  1. call-in shows
  2. call-ins
  3. call-letter
  4. call-off
  5. call-offs
  6. call-out
  7. call-out culture
  8. call-outs
  9. call-response
  10. call-shy
  11. call-sign

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: call-out (page history and authors); callout (page history and authors); call out (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.

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