call the shots
call the shots verb: to make the decisions; to be in charge; to give orders.
Verb
call the shots (third-person singular simple present calls the shots, present participle calling the shots, simple past and past participle called the shots)
- To make the decisions; to be in charge; to give orders.
- In today's health care system, insurance companies call the shots. They pick whom they cover and how they cover them. They can cut off your benefits when you need your coverage the most. They are in charge.1994 January 25, Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Clinton's Second State of the Union Address
- Myanmar's Shan state, which borders both China and Thailand, is the wild wild east. And in many parts of the state, it's well-armed ethnic militias, not Myanmar's military, who call the shots.2019 July 4, Michael Sullivan, “In Myanmar, Methamphetamine, Synthetic Drug Production Soars”, in NPR, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2021
- Synonyms:
- call the tune
call the shots meaning in Malayalam
call the shots in Malayalam
- be in control, be in charge, be at the helm
- നിയന്ത്രിക്കാവുന്ന പദവിയിലിരിക്കുക, സ്വാധീനിക്കാവുന്ന പദവിയിലിരിക്കുക, മേൽനോട്ടത്തിന് അധികാരമുണ്ടായിരിക്കുക, ചുമതലയുണ്ടായിരിക്കുക, തീരുമാനമെടുക്കുക, ചുക്കാൻപിടിക്കുക
Synonyms of call the shots
Forms of call the shots
| third-person singular present | calls the shots |
|---|---|
| present participle | calling the shots |
| past participle | called the shots |
| past | called the shots |
Origin of call the shots
From sports.
Words formed from call the shots
Questions about call the shots
- What does call the shots mean?
- Call the shots means to make the decisions; to be in charge; to give orders.
- What is call the shots in Malayalam?
- Call the shots in Malayalam is നിയന്ത്രിക്കാവുന്ന പദവിയിലിരിക്കുക, സ്വാധീനിക്കാവുന്ന പദവിയിലിരിക്കുക, മേൽനോട്ടത്തിന് അധികാരമുണ്ടായിരിക്കുക. See Call the shots meaning in Malayalam.
- What part of speech is call the shots?
- Call the shots is a verb.
- What is the past tense of call the shots?
- The past tense of call the shots is called the shots.
Words near call the shots in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: call the shots (page history and authors); call the shots (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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-au-call the shots.ogg.
Cite this entry: “call the shots.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/call_the_shots. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.