Word.ws English Dictionary

called the shots

called the shots is the simple past and past participle of call the shots.

Meaning of call the shots

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)

  1. (US) 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
    Synonyms:
    call the tune

Questions about called the shots

What is called the shots the simple past and past participle of?
Called the shots is the simple past and past participle of call the shots.

Words near called the shots in the dictionary

  1. called round
  2. called someone every name in the book
  3. called someone everything but a child of God
  4. called someone's bluff
  5. called someone's number
  6. called the shots
  7. called the tune
  8. called them as one saw them
  9. called time
  10. called to
  11. called to account

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: called the shots (page history and authors); call the shots (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: “called the shots.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/called_the_shots. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.