call

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To reach out with one's voice.
2. (intransitive) To reach out with one's voice.
3. (transitive) To reach out with one's voice.
4. (ambitransitive) To reach out with one's voice.
5. (transitive) To reach out with one's voice.
6. (transitive) To reach out with one's voice.
7. (Yorkshire, transitive) To reach out with one's voice.
8. (intransitive) To visit.
9. (intransitive) To visit.
10. (intransitive) To visit.
11. (ditransitive) To name, identify, or describe.
12. To name, identify, or describe.
13. To name, identify, or describe.
14. (transitive) To name, identify, or describe.
15. (obsolete) To name, identify, or describe.
16. (transitive) To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
17. (transitive) To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
18. (transitive) To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
19. To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
20. To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
21. Direct or indirect use of the voice.
22. Direct or indirect use of the voice.
23. Direct or indirect use of the voice.
24. (intransitive) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
25. (intransitive, proscribed) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
26. (transitive) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
27. (sometimes, transitive) To require, demand.
28. (transitive) To cause to be verbally subjected to.
29. (colloquial, transitive) To lay claim to an object or role which is up for grabs.
30. (transitive) To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
31. (transitive) To demand repayment of a loan.
32. (transitive) To jump to (another part of a program); to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A cry or shout.
2. (countable, uncountable) The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.
3. (countable, uncountable) A beckoning or summoning.
4. (countable, uncountable) A telephone conversation; a phone call.
5. (countable, uncountable) An instance of calling someone on the telephone.
6. (countable, uncountable) A short visit, usually for social purposes.
7. (countable, uncountable) A visit by a ship or boat to a port.
8. (countable, uncountable) A decision or judgement.
9. (countable, uncountable) The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable) Ellipsis of call option.
11. (countable, uncountable) The act of calling to the other batsman.
12. (countable, uncountable) The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)
13. (uncountable) A work shift which requires one to be available when requested, i.e. on call.
14. (countable, uncountable) The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.
15. (countable, uncountable) A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
16. (countable, uncountable) The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.
17. (countable, uncountable) A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.
18. (countable, uncountable) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.
19. (countable, uncountable) A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.
20. (countable, uncountable) An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
21. (archaic, countable, uncountable) Vocation; employment; calling.
22. (US, countable, uncountable) 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.
23. (countable, informal, slang, uncountable) A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.
24. (countable, uncountable) A lawyer who was called to the bar (became licensed as a lawyer) in a specified year.
25. (countable, uncountable) Need; necessity.

Synonyms

summon

name

shout

invite

visit

cry

😢

phone

☎️

summons

yell

designate

telephone

☎️

call out

ring

💍

invitation

scream

😱

demand

invoke

send for

appeal

call up

call in

hail

request

beckon

ask

claim

sing

address

term

phone call

cry out

convoke

holler

calling

📲

call for

telephone call

anticipate

announce

say

🗣️

call by telephone

foretell

bawl

dub

order

lure

ring up

roar

clamour

halloo

prognosticate

Translations

appeler

llamar

chiamare

appel

rufen

chamar

chiamata

Ruf

llamada

anrufen

roepen

😢

nennen

crier

καλώ

noemen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɔːl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: callen

Inherited from Old English: ceallian

Cognate with Scots: call

Cognate with Dutch: kallen

Cognate with German: kallen

Cognate with Swedish: kalla

Cognate with Norwegian: kalle

Cognate with Danish: kalde

Cognate with Icelandic: kalla

Cognate with Welsh: galw

Cognate with Polish: głos

Cognate with Lithuanian: gal̃sas

Cognate with Russian: голос

Cognate with Albanian: gjuhë

In summary

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 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”).

Sentences

Why didn't I call you back ?

" Hunches ," his mother used to call them .

Give me that call on Patrick's wire !