call : Idioms & Phrases

Index


At call, ∨ On call

  • liable to be demanded at any moment without previous notice; as money on deposit.
Webster 1913

bell-like call

  • noun a birdcall that resembles the tone of a bell
WordNet

Bifilar micrometer (often called a bifilar

  • ), an instrument form measuring minute distances or angles by means of two very minute threads (usually spider lines), one of which, at least, is movable; more commonly called a filar micrometer.
Webster 1913

bugle call

  • noun a signal broadcast by the sound of a bugle
WordNet

call at

  • verb enter a harbor
    out in.
    • the ship called in Athens
WordNet

call attention

  • verb point out carefully and clearly
    signalise; signalize; point out.
WordNet

call back

  • verb cause to be returned
    recall; withdraw; call back.
    • recall the defective auto tires
    • The manufacturer tried to call back the spoilt yoghurt
  • verb recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
    retrieve; remember; recall; recollect; call back; think.
    • I can't remember saying any such thing
    • I can't think what her last name was
    • can you remember her phone number?
    • Do you remember that he once loved you?
    • call up memories
  • verb return or repeat a telephone call
    • I am busy right now--can you call back in an hour?
    • She left a message but the contractor never called back
  • verb summon to return
    recall.
    • The ambassador was recalled to his country
    • The company called back many of the workers it had laid off during the recession
WordNet

Call bird

  • a bird taught to allure others into a snare.
Webster 1913

call box

  • noun booth for using a telephone
    phone booth; telephone kiosk; telephone booth; telephone box.
  • noun a numbered compartment in a post office where mail is put to be called for
    letter box; Post-Office box; POB; PO Box.
WordNet

Call boy

  • (a) A boy who calls the actors in a theater; a boy who transmits the orders of the captain of a vessel to the engineer, helmsman, etc. (b) A waiting boy who answers a cal, or cames at the ringing of a bell; a bell boy.
Webster 1913

call center

  • noun a center equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers)
    call center.
WordNet

call centre

  • noun a center equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers)
    call center.
WordNet

call down

  • verb summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
    arouse; raise; invoke; conjure up; bring up; call down; evoke; put forward; stir; conjure.
    • raise the specter of unemployment
    • he conjured wild birds in the air
    • call down the spirits from the mountain
  • verb censure severely or angrily
    rag; dress down; remonstrate; chew out; take to task; call down; jaw; lambast; trounce; scold; chide; berate; chew up; have words; rebuke; reprimand; reproof; lecture; bawl out; lambaste.
    • The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car
    • The deputy ragged the Prime Minister
    • The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup
WordNet

call fire

  • noun fire delivered on a specific target in response to a request from the supported unit
WordNet

call for

  • verb express the need or desire for; ask for
    bespeak; quest; request.
    • She requested an extra bed in her room
    • She called for room service
  • verb require as useful, just, or proper
    require; necessitate; involve; need; take; demand; ask; postulate.
    • It takes nerve to do what she did
    • success usually requires hard work
    • This job asks a lot of patience and skill
    • This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice
    • This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert
    • This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent
  • verb request the participation or presence of
    invite.
    • The organizers invite submissions of papers for the conference
  • verb gather or collect
    collect; pick up; gather up.
    • You can get the results on Monday
    • She picked up the children at the day care center
    • They pick up our trash twice a week
WordNet

call forth

  • verb evoke or provoke to appear or occur
    provoke; evoke; kick up.
    • Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple
  • verb summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
    arouse; raise; invoke; conjure up; bring up; call down; evoke; put forward; stir; conjure.
    • raise the specter of unemployment
    • he conjured wild birds in the air
    • call down the spirits from the mountain
WordNet

call forwarding

  • noun lets you transfer your incoming calls to any telephone that you can dial direct
WordNet

call girl

  • noun a female prostitute who can be hired by telephone
WordNet

call in

  • verb summon to enter
    • The nurse called in the next patient
  • verb summon to a particular activity or employment
    • Experts were called in
  • verb pay a brief visit
    call; visit.
    • The mayor likes to call on some of the prominent citizens
  • verb take a player out of a game in order to exchange for another player
  • verb make a phone call
    • call in to a radio station
    • call in sick
  • verb demand payment of (a loan)
    call.
    • Call a loan
  • verb cause to be returned
    recall; withdraw; call back.
    • recall the defective auto tires
    • The manufacturer tried to call back the spoilt yoghurt
WordNet

call into question

  • verb challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of
    question; oppugn.
    • We must question your judgment in this matter
WordNet

call it a day

  • verb stop doing what one is doing
    call it a day.
    • At midnight, the student decided to call it quits and closed his books
WordNet

call it quits

  • verb stop doing what one is doing
    call it a day.
    • At midnight, the student decided to call it quits and closed his books
WordNet

call loan

  • noun a loan that is repayable on demand
    demand loan.
WordNet

call mark

  • noun a mark consisting of characters written on a book; used to indicate shelf location
    call mark; pressmark.
WordNet

Call note

  • the note naturally used by the male bird to call the female. It is artifically applied by birdcatchers as a decoy. Latham.
Webster 1913

call number

  • noun a mark consisting of characters written on a book; used to indicate shelf location
    call mark; pressmark.
WordNet

Call of the house

  • (Legislative Bodies), a calling over the names of members, to discover who is absent, or for other purposes; a calling of names with a view to obtaining the ayes and noes from the persons named.
Webster 1913

call off

  • verb postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled
    cancel; scratch; scrub.
    • Call off the engagement
    • cancel the dinner party
    • we had to scrub our vacation plans
    • scratch that meeting--the chair is ill
  • verb give the calls (to the dancers) for a square dance
    call.
WordNet

call on

  • verb have recourse to or make an appeal or request for help or information to
    turn.
    • She called on her Representative to help her
    • She turned to her relatives for help
WordNet

call on the carpet

  • verb censure severely or angrily
    rag; dress down; remonstrate; chew out; take to task; call down; jaw; lambast; trounce; scold; chide; berate; chew up; have words; rebuke; reprimand; reproof; lecture; bawl out; lambaste.
    • The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car
    • The deputy ragged the Prime Minister
    • The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup
WordNet

call one's bluff

  • verb ask to prove what someone is claiming
    • John called Mary's bluff when she claimed she could prove the theorem in under an hour
WordNet

call option

  • noun an option to buy
  • noun the option to buy a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date
    call.
WordNet

call out

  • verb utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
    exclaim; cry; cry out; shout; outcry.
    • `I won!' he exclaimed
    • `Help!' she cried
    • `I'm here,' the mother shouted when she saw her child looking lost
  • verb call out loudly, as of names or numbers
  • verb challenge to a duel
    • Aaron Burr called out Alexander Hamilton
WordNet

call the shots

  • verb exercise authority or be in charge
    call the shots; wear the trousers.
    • Who is calling the shots in this house?
WordNet

call the tune

  • verb exercise authority or be in charge
    call the shots; wear the trousers.
    • Who is calling the shots in this house?
WordNet

call to order

  • verb open formally
    • the chairman called the meeting to order by pounding his gavel
WordNet

Call to the bar

  • admission to practice in the courts.
Webster 1913

call up

  • noun an order to report for military duty
  • verb bring forward for consideration
    bring forward.
    • The case was called up in court
  • verb get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone
    phone; ring; call; telephone.
    • I tried to call you all night
    • Take two aspirin and call me in the morning
  • verb recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
    retrieve; remember; recall; recollect; call back; think.
    • I can't remember saying any such thing
    • I can't think what her last name was
    • can you remember her phone number?
    • Do you remember that he once loved you?
    • call up memories
  • verb call to arms; of military personnel
    rally; mobilize; mobilise.
WordNet

call waiting

  • noun a way of letting you know that someone else is calling when you are using your telephone
WordNet

call-back

  • noun a return call
  • noun the recall of an employee after a layoff
WordNet

call-board

  • noun a bulletin board backstage in a theater
WordNet

call-in

  • noun a telephone call to a radio station or a television station in which the caller participates in the on-going program
WordNet

call-out

  • noun a challenge to a fight or duel
WordNet

calling card

  • noun a card that is used instead of cash to make telephone calls
    phone card.
  • noun a printed or written greeting that is left to indicate that you have visited
    card; visiting card.
  • noun a distinguishing characteristic or behavior
    • bombs are a terrorist's calling cards
WordNet

calling into question

  • noun a challenge to defend what someone has said
    demand for explanation.
WordNet

calling together

  • noun the act of convoking
    convocation.
WordNet

close call

  • noun something achieved (or escaped) by a narrow margin
    squeak; close shave; narrow escape; squeaker.
WordNet

collect call

  • noun a telephone call that the receiving party is asked to pay for
WordNet

conference call

  • noun a telephone call in which more than two people participate
WordNet

crank call

  • noun a hostile telephone call (from a crank)
WordNet

curtain call

  • noun an appearance by actors or performers at the end of the concert or play in order to acknowledge the applause of the audience
    bow.
WordNet

distress call

  • noun an internationally recognized signal sent out by a ship or plane indicating that help is needed
    distress signal.
WordNet

Effectual calling

  • (Theol.), a doctrine concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in producing conviction of sin and acceptance of salvation by Christ, one of the five points of Calvinism. See Calvinism.
Webster 1913

Fatigue call

  • (Mil.), a summons, by bugle or drum, to perform fatigue duties.
Webster 1913

function call

  • noun a call that passes control to a subroutine; after the subroutine is executed control returns to the next instruction in main program
WordNet

House of call

  • a place, usually a public house, where journeymen connected with a particular trade assemble when out of work, ready for the call of employers. Eng. Simonds.
Webster 1913

Hyperbolic, ∨ Napierian, logarithms usually called 'natural logarithms'

  • those logarithms (devised by John Speidell, 1619) of which the base is 2.7182818; so called from Napier, the inventor of logarithms.
Webster 1913

local call

  • noun a telephone call made within a local calling area
WordNet

long-distance call

  • noun a telephone call made outside the local calling area
    long distance; long-distance call.
    • I talked to her by long distance
WordNet

mail call

  • noun a call of names of those receiving mail
WordNet

margin call

  • noun a demand by a broker that a customer deposit enough to bring his margin up to the minimum requirement
    call.
WordNet

muster call

  • noun a call of the names of personnel at a military assembly
WordNet

name calling

  • noun verbal abuse; a crude substitute for argument
    names.
    • sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me
WordNet

phone call

  • noun a telephone connection
    call; phone call.
    • she reported several anonymous calls
    • he placed a phone call to London
    • he heard the phone ringing but didn't want to take the call
WordNet

port of call

  • noun any port where a ship stops except its home port
WordNet

Quail call

  • a call or pipe for alluring quails into a net or within range.
Webster 1913

Real servitude, called also Predial servitude

  • (Civil Law), a burden imposed upon one estate in favor of another estate of another proprietor. Erskine. Bouvier.
Webster 1913

Roll call

  • noun calling out an official list of names
WordNet
  • the act, or the time, of calling over a list names, as among soldiers.
Webster 1913

salafast group for call and combat

  • noun an Algerian extremist Islamic offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group; now the largest and most active armed terrorist group in Algeria that seeks to overthrow the government; a major source of support and recruitment for al-Qaeda operations in Europe and northern Africa
    Salafist Group; GSPC.
WordNet

service call

  • noun a trip made by a repairman to visit the location of something in need of service
WordNet

sick call

  • noun the daily military formation at which individuals report to the medical officer as sick
    sick parade.
WordNet

siren call

  • noun the enticing appeal of something alluring but potentially dangerous
    siren song.
    • he succumbed to the siren call of the wilderness
WordNet

so-called

  • adjective satellite doubtful or suspect
    alleged; supposed.
    • these so-called experts are no help
WordNet
So"-called` adjective
Definitions
  1. So named; called by such a name (but perhaps called thus with doubtful propriety).
Webster 1913

supervisor call instruction

  • noun an instruction that interrupts the program being executed and passes control to the supervisor
    supervisor call instruction.
WordNet

system call

  • noun an instruction that interrupts the program being executed and passes control to the supervisor
    supervisor call instruction.
WordNet

telephone call

  • noun a telephone connection
    call; phone call.
    • she reported several anonymous calls
    • he placed a phone call to London
    • he heard the phone ringing but didn't want to take the call
WordNet

three-way calling

  • noun a way of adding a third party to your conversation without the assistance of a telephone operator
WordNet

To call (any one) names

  • to apply contemptuous names (to any one).
Webster 1913

To call a bond

  • to give notice that the amount of the bond will be paid.
Webster 1913

To call a party

  • (Law), to cry aloud his name in open court, and command him to come in and perform some duty requiring his presence at the time on pain of what may befall him.
Webster 1913

To call back

  • to revoke or retract; to recall; to summon back.
Webster 1913

To call down

  • to pray for, as blessing or curses.
Webster 1913

To call for

  • (a) To demand; to require; as, a crime calls for punishment; a survey, grant, or deed calls for the metes and bounds, or the quantity of land, etc., which it describes. (b) To give an order for; to request. "Whenever the coach stopped, the sailor called for more ale." Marryat.
Webster 1913

To call forth

  • to bring or summon to action; as, to call forth all the faculties of the mind.
Webster 1913

To call in

  • (a) To collect; as, to call in debts or money; ar to withdraw from cirulation; as, to call in uncurrent coin. (b) To summon to one's side; to invite to come together; as, to call in neighbors.
Webster 1913

To call names

  • to apply opprobrious epithets to; to call by reproachful appellations.
Webster 1913

To call off

  • to summon away; to divert; as, to call off the attention; to call off workmen from their employment.
Webster 1913

To call on, To call upon

  • (a) To make a short visit to; as, call on a friend. (b) To appeal to; to invite; to request earnestly; as, to call upon a person to make a speech. (c) To solicit payment, or make a demand, of a debt. (d) To invoke or play to; to worship; as, to call upon God.
Webster 1913

To call out

  • . (a) To summon to fight; to challenge. (b) To summon into service; as, to call out the militia.
  • To call or utter loudly; to brawl.
Webster 1913

To call over

  • to recite separate particulars in order, as a roll of names.
Webster 1913

To call the roll

  • to call off or recite a list or roll of names of persons belonging to an organization, in order to ascertain who are present or to obtain responses from those present.
Webster 1913

To call to account

  • to demand explanation of.
Webster 1913

To call to mind

  • to recollect; to revive in memory.
Webster 1913

To call to order

  • to request to come to order; as: (a) A public meeting, when opening it for business. (b) A person, when he is transgressing the rules of debate.
Webster 1913

To call to the bar

  • to admit to practice in courts of law.
Webster 1913

To call up

  • . (a) To bring into view or recollection; as to call up the image of deceased friend. (b) To bring into action or discussion; to demand the consideration of; as, to call up a bill before a legislative body.
Webster 1913

To name or call after

  • to name like and reference to.
Webster 1913

toll call

  • noun a long-distance telephone call at charges above a local rate
WordNet

trunk call

  • noun a telephone call made outside the local calling area
    long distance; long-distance call.
    • I talked to her by long distance
WordNet

two-note call

  • noun a birdcall having two notes
    • the two-note call of the cuckoo
WordNet

wake-up call

  • noun a warning to take action concerning something that was overlooked or neglected
    • the bombing was a wake-up call to strengthen domestic security
  • noun a telephone call that you request be made a specific time in order to wake you up at that time (especially in hotels)
    • she left a wake-up call for 7 a.m.
WordNet

Watering call

  • (Mil.), a sound of trumpet or bugle summoning cavalry soldiers to assemble for the purpose of watering their horses.
Webster 1913