- call
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 on the telephoneADJECTIVE▪ phone, telephone▪ long▪ quick, short▪
I'll just make a quick phone call.
▪ local▪ international, long-distance▪ collect (esp. AmE)▪ incoming▪ outgoing▪ conference▪ business, follow-up, sales, telemarketing (esp. AmE)▪We always make follow-up calls to ensure customer satisfaction.
▪ personal▪We're not supposed to make personal calls from work.
▪ emergency, urgent▪He received an urgent call and had to leave.
▪ frantic▪She made a frantic phone call to her mother.
▪ anonymous, crank, hoax (esp. BrE), nuisance (esp. BrE), prank, unsolicited▪ missed▪The screen display said ‘8 missed calls’.
▪ wake-up▪I ordered a wake-up call for 6.30 the next morning.
▪Last night's defeat should be a wake-up call for the team. (figurative)
VERB + CALL▪ give sb, make, place▪Give us a call to say when you have arrived.
▪She placed an anonymous call to the Dutch Embassy in Dublin.
▪ get, have, receive▪ answer, deal with, field, handle, take▪I'll take the call upstairs.
▪He spent the whole day fielding calls from concerned parents.
▪ return▪I left a message but he didn't return my call.
▪ expect▪Could you get off the phone? I'm expecting a call.
▪ miss▪She was out and missed an important call.
▪ end, finish▪I ended the call as quickly as possible.
▪ put through, transfer▪Ask the receptionist to put your call through to my room.
▪ intercept, monitor, screen, trace▪The police managed to trace the call.
CALL + NOUN▪ box (BrE)▪ centre/centerPREPOSITION▪ call for▪Were there any calls for me while I was out?
▪ call from▪You had a call from Fred.
▪ call to▪I made a call to a friend in London.
2 sound to attract attentionADJECTIVE▪ loud▪ distinctive▪the distinctive call of the cuckoo
▪ alarm, distress▪ bird▪ clarion, rallying (both figurative)▪This election is a clarion call for our country to face the challenges of the new era.
VERB + CALL▪ let out, make, sound▪The mosque was sounding the call to prayer.
▪ hearPREPOSITION▪ call for▪a call for help
▪ call to▪the morning call to prayer
3 short visitADJECTIVE▪ business, courtesy, sales, social▪ house▪The doctor does not usually make house calls.
VERB + CALL▪ make, pay (sb)▪The doctor has several calls to make this morning.
PREPOSITION▪ on a call▪She's out on a call.
▪ call on▪When he went to Ethiopia, his first call was on the ambassador.
PHRASES▪ first port of call, last port of call, next port of call▪Our first port of call (= the first place we went) was the bank.
4 request/demandADJECTIVE▪ renewed, repeated▪ last▪This is the last call for PAM flight 199 to Salvador.
▪ strike (BrE)VERB + CALL▪ issue▪ renew, repeat▪Campaigners have renewed their call for an independent inquiry.
▪ answer, heed, respond to▪It is unlikely that they will heed calls for a crackdown.
▪Around 10 000 workers heeded the union's strike call. (BrE)
▪ ignore, reject, resist▪The government has resisted the calls of the international community.
CALL + NOUN▪ button▪He pushed the call button for the flight attendant.
PREPOSITION▪ call for▪The charity issued a call for donations to assist victims of the earthquake.
PHRASES▪ a call to action▪The book is a call to action.
▪ a call to arms (= a strong request for people to fight in the army) (often figurative)▪The president's speech was a call to arms to restore the vitality of the American dream.
5 (informal) decisionADJECTIVE▪ tough▪ close▪ judgement/judgment▪ line, strike (both sports){{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}verb1 give a name to sb/sthADVERB▪ commonly, frequently▪Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America.
▪ formerly, originally▪The area was formerly called West Meadow.
▪ affectionately▪His friends affectionately call him ‘Bear’.
▪ just, simply▪a character whom the writer calls simply ‘The Girl’
▪ officially▪The system is officially called the NPV System.
▪ collectively▪a range of very small organisms, collectively called nanoplankton
▪ variously▪a tree variously called ‘rowan’ and ‘mountain ash’
▪ aptly, rightly▪ tentatively▪He is writing a novel, tentatively called ‘My Future’.
▪ euphemistically▪soldiers killed by what is euphemistically called ‘friendly fire’
PREPOSITION▪ by▪We usually call him by his nickname.
PHRASES▪ you could hardly call sth … , you would hardly call sth …▪You could hardly call the show perfect, but it was successful.
2 make sound to attract attentionADVERB▪ softly▪ loudly▪ out▪She called out in pain.
PREPOSITION▪ for▪He called for help, but no one could hear.
▪ to▪a female penguin calling to her mate
3 telephoneADVERB▪ back▪I'll call back later.
▪Leave a message and I'll call you back.
▪ ahead▪You should call ahead to make sure that seats are available.
▪ free (BrE), toll-free (AmE)▪Call us free/toll-free on this number.
▪ collect (AmE)Call is used with these nouns as the object: ↑assembly, ↑attention, ↑cab, ↑ceasefire, ↑conference, ↑congress, ↑coward, ↑desk, ↑doctor, ↑election, ↑elevator, fire brigade, ↑firefighter, ↑fool, ↑foul, ↑greeting, ↑halt, ↑head, ↑hotline, ↑idiot, ↑inspector, ↑liar, ↑meeting, ↑name, ↑news conference, ↑number, ↑office, ↑phone, ↑pitch, ↑play, ↑police, ↑policeman, ↑press conference, ↑realtor, ↑reception, ↑recess, ↑referendum, ↑register, ↑retreat, ↑roll, ↑servant, ↑session, ↑stoppage, ↑strike, ↑summit, ↑switchboard, ↑taxi, ↑toss, ↑traitor, ↑truce, ↑vet, ↑veterinarian, ↑waiter, waitress, ↑witness
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
