Word.ws English Dictionary

calls the shots

calls the shots is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 calls the shots

What is calls the shots the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Calls the shots is the third-person singular simple present indicative of call the shots.

Words near calls the shots in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: calls 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: “calls the shots.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/calls_the_shots. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.