call for

call

[kawl]
verb (used with object)
1.
to cry out in a loud voice; shout: He called her name to see if she was home.
2.
to command or request to come; summon: to call a dog; to call a cab; to call a witness.
3.
to ask or invite to come: Will you call the family to dinner?
4.
to communicate or try to communicate with by telephone: Call me when you arrive.
5.
to rouse from sleep, as by a call; waken: Call me at eight o'clock.
6.
to read over (a roll or a list) in a loud voice.
7.
to convoke or convene: to call Congress into session.
8.
to announce authoritatively; proclaim: to call a halt.
9.
to order into effect; establish: to call a strike.
10.
to schedule: to call a rehearsal.
11.
to summon by or as if by divine command: He felt called to the ministry.
12.
to summon to an office, duty, etc.: His country called him to the colors.
13.
to cause to come; bring: to call to mind; to call into existence.
14.
to bring under consideration or discussion: The judge called the case to court.
15.
to attract or lure (birds or animals) by imitating characteristic sounds.
16.
to direct or attract (attention): He called his roommate's attention to the mess.
17.
to name or address (someone) as: His parents named him James, but the boys call him Jim.
18.
to designate as something specified: He called me a liar.
19.
to think of as something specified; consider; estimate: I call that a mean remark.
20.
to demand of (someone) that he or she fulfill a promise, furnish evidence for a statement, etc.: They called him on his story.
21.
to criticize adversely; express disapproval of; censure: She called him on his vulgar language.
22.
to demand payment or fulfillment of (a loan).
23.
to demand presentation of (bonds) for redemption.
24.
to forecast correctly: He has called the outcome of the last three elections.
25.
Sports.
a.
to pronounce a judgment on (a shot, pitch, batter, etc.): The umpire called the pitch a strike.
b.
to put an end to (a contest) because of inclement weather, poor field conditions, etc.: A sudden downpour forced the umpire to call the game.
26.
Pool. to name (the ball) one intends to drive into a particular pocket.
27.
(in a computer program) to transfer control of to a procedure or subroutine.
28.
Cards.
a.
to demand (a card).
b.
to demand the display of a hand by (a player).
c.
Poker. to equal (a bet) or equal the bet made by (the preceding bettor) in a round.
d.
Bridge. to signal one's partner for a lead of (a certain card or suit).
verb (used without object)
29.
to speak loudly, as to attract attention; shout; cry: She called to the children.
30.
to make a short visit; stop at a place on some errand or business: She called at the store for the package.
31.
to telephone or try to telephone a person: He promised to call at noon.
32.
Cards.
a.
to demand a card.
b.
to demand a showing of hands.
c.
Poker. to equal a bet.
d.
Bridge. to bid or pass.
33.
(of a bird or animal) to utter its characteristic cry.
00:10
Call for is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
noun
34.
a cry or shout.
35.
the cry or vocal sound of a bird or other animal.
36.
an instrument for imitating this cry and attracting or luring an animal: He bought a duck call.
37.
an act or instance of telephoning: She went into the next room to place her call.
38.
a short visit: to make a call on someone.
39.
a summons or signal sounded by a bugle, bell, etc.: We live so close to the fort that we can hear the bugle calls.
40.
a summons, invitation, or bidding: The students gathered at the call of the dean.
41.
a calling of a roll; roll call.
42.
the fascination or appeal of a given place, vocation, etc.: the call of the sea.
43.
a mystic experience of divine appointment to a vocation or service: He had a call to become a minister.
44.
a request or invitation to become pastor of a church, a professor in a university, etc.
45.
a need or occasion: He had no call to say such outrageous things.
46.
a demand or claim: to make a call on a person's time.
47.
a demand for payment of an obligation, especially where payment is at the option of the creditor.
48.
Cards.
a.
a demand for a card or a showing of hands.
b.
Poker. an equaling of the preceding bet.
c.
Bridge. a bid or pass.
49.
Sports. a judgment or decision by an umpire, a referee, or other official of a contest, as on a shot, pitch, or batter: The referees were making one bad call after another.
50.
Theater.
a.
a notice of rehearsal posted by the stage manager.
b.
act call.
c.
curtain call.
51.
Dance. a figure or direction in square dancing, announced to the dancers by the caller.
52.
Also called call option. Finance. an option that gives the right to buy a fixed amount of a particular stock at a predetermined price within a given period of time, purchased by a person who believes the price will rise. Compare put ( def 24 ).
53.
Fox Hunting. any of several cries, or sounds made on a horn by the hunter to encourage the hounds.
Verb phrases
54.
call away, to cause to leave or go; summon: A death in the family called him away.
55.
call back,
a.
to summon or bring back; recall: He called back the messenger. The actor was called back for a second audition.
b.
to revoke; retract: to call back an accusation.
56.
call down,
a.
to request or pray for; invoke: to call down the wrath of God.
b.
to reprimand; scold: The boss called us down for lateness.
57.
call for,
a.
to go or come to get; pick up; fetch.
b.
to request; summon.
c.
to require; demand; need: The occasion calls for a cool head.
58.
call forth, to summon into action; bring into existence: to call forth her courage and resolve.
59.
call in,
a.
to call for payment; collect.
b.
to withdraw from circulation: to call in gold certificates.
c.
to call upon for consultation; ask for help: Two specialists were called in to assist in the operation.
d.
to inform or report by telephone: Did he call in his decision this morning?
e.
to participate in a radio or television program by telephone.
60.
call ininto question. question ( def 17 ).
61.
call off,
a.
to distract; take away: Please call off your dog.
b.
to cancel (something) that had been planned for a certain date: The performance was called off because of rain.
62.
call onupon,
a.
to ask; appeal to: They called on him to represent them.
b.
to visit for a short time: to call on friends.
63.
call out,
a.
to speak in a loud voice; shout.
b.
to summon into service or action: Call out the militia!
c.
to bring out; elicit: The emergency called out her hidden abilities.
d.
to direct attention to with a callout: to call out each detail in an illustration.
e.
Informal. to challenge to a fight.
64.
call up,
a.
to bring forward for consideration or discussion.
b.
to cause to remember; evoke.
c.
to communicate or try to communicate with by telephone.
d.
to summon for action or service: A large number of Army reservists were called up.
e.
Computers. to summon (information) from a computer system for display on a video screen: She called up the full text.
Idioms
65.
call in sick. sick1 ( def 14 ).
66.
call to order. order ( def 48 ).
67.
on call,
a.
payable or subject to return without advance notice.
b.
readily available for summoning upon short notice.
68.
take a call, to acknowledge the applause of the audience after a performance by appearing for a bow or a curtain call.
69.
within call, within distance or range of being spoken to or summoned: Please stay within call.
Origin:
1200–50; late Middle English callen, probably < Old Norse kalla to call out, conflated with Old English (West Saxon) ceallian to shout; cognate with Middle Dutch kallen to talk, Old High German kallôn to shout, akin to Old English -calla herald, Irish gall swan, OCS glasŭ voice

Related forms
un·called, adjective
well-called, adjective

Can be confused: call, caul, cull (see synonym study at the current entry).

Synonyms
2, 3, 12. Call, invite, summon imply requesting the presence or attendance of someone at a particular place. Call is the general word: to call a meeting. To invite is to ask someone courteously to come as a guest, a participant, etc., leaving the person free to refuse: to invite guests to a concert; to invite them to contribute to a fund. Summon implies sending for someone, using authority or formality in making the request and (theoretically) not leaving the person free to refuse: to summon a witness, members of a committee, etc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To call for
Collins
World English Dictionary
call (kɔːl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb (sometimes foll by on) (when tr, usually foll by for) (often foll by up) (foll by for)
1.  (often foll by out) to speak or utter (words, sounds, etc) loudly so as to attract attention: he called out her name
2.  (tr) to ask or order to come: to call a policeman
3.  to make a visit (to): she called on him
4.  (often foll by up) to telephone (a person): he called back at nine
5.  (tr) to summon to a specific office, profession, etc: he was called to the ministry
6.  (of animals or birds) to utter (a characteristic sound or cry)
7.  (tr) to summon (a bird or animal) by imitating its cry
8.  (tr) to name or style: they called the dog Rover
9.  (tr) to designate: they called him a coward
10.  dialect (Brit) (tr) to speak ill of or scold
11.  (tr) to regard in a specific way: I call it a foolish waste of time
12.  (tr) to attract (attention)
13.  (tr) to read (a list, register, etc) aloud to check for omissions or absentees
14.  to give an order (for): to call a strike
15.  (intr) to try to predict the result of tossing a coin
16.  (tr) to awaken: I was called early this morning
17.  (tr) to cause to assemble: to call a meeting
18.  (tr) sport (of an umpire, referee, etc) to pass judgment upon (a shot, player, etc) with a call
19.  (Austral), (NZ) (tr) to broadcast a commentary on (a horse race or other sporting event)
20.  (tr) to demand repayment of (a loan, redeemable bond, security, etc)
21.  accounting to demand payment of (a portion of a share issue not yet paid by subscribers)
22.  (Brit) (tr) to award (a student at an Inn of Court) the degree of barrister (esp in the phrase call to the bar)
23.  (tr) computing to transfer control to (a named subprogram)
24.  (tr) poker to demand that (a player) expose his hand, after equalling his bet
25.  (intr) bridge to make a bid
26.  (in square-dancing) to call out (instructions) to the dancers
27.  billiards to ask (a player) to say what kind of shot he will play or (of a player) to name his shot
28.  a.  to require: this problem calls for study
 b.  to come or go (for) in order to fetch: I will call for my book later
29.  (intr; foll by on or upon) to make an appeal or request (to): they called upon him to reply
30.  (tr) to predict the outcome of an event: we don't know yet if the plan has succeeded because it's too soon to call
31.  call into being to create
32.  call into play to begin to operate
33.  call in question, call into question See question
34.  call it a day to stop work or other activity
35.  too close to call (of the outcome of a competition, election, match, etc) unable to be predicted
36.  call to mind to remember or cause to be remembered
 
—n
37.  a cry or shout
38.  the characteristic cry of a bird or animal
39.  a device, such as a whistle, intended to imitate the cry of a bird or animal
40.  a summons or invitation
41.  a summons or signal sounded on a horn, bugle, etc
42.  hunting any of several notes or patterns of notes, blown on a hunting horn as a signal
43.  hunting
 a.  an imitation of the characteristic cry of a wild animal or bird to lure it to the hunter
 b.  an instrument for producing such an imitation
44.  a short visit: the doctor made six calls this morning
45.  an inner urge to some task or profession; vocation
46.  allure or fascination, esp of a place: the call of the forest
47.  (Brit) the summons to the bar of a student member of an Inn of Court
48.  need, demand, or occasion: there is no call to shout; we don't get much call for stockings these days
49.  demand or claim (esp in the phrase the call of duty)
50.  theatre a notice to actors informing them of times of rehearsals
51.  (in square dancing) an instruction to execute new figures
52.  a conversation or a request for a connection by telephone
53.  commerce
 a.  a demand for repayment of a loan
 b.  (as modifier): call money
54.  finance
 a.  a demand for redeemable bonds or shares to be presented for repayment
 b.  a demand for an instalment payment on the issue price of bonds or shares
55.  billiards a demand to an opponent to say what kind of shot he will play
56.  poker a demand for a hand or hands to be exposed
57.  bridge a bid, or a player's turn to bid
58.  a decision or judgment: it's your call
59.  sport a decision of an umpire or referee regarding a shot, pitch, etc
60.  (Austral) a broadcast commentary on a horse race or other sporting event
61.  stock exchange Compare put Also called: call option an option to buy a stated amount of securities at a specified price during a specified period
62.  See roll call
63.  stock exchange call for margin a demand made by a stockbroker for partial payment of a client's debt due to decreasing value of the collateral
64.  call of nature See nature
65.  on call
 a.  (of a loan, etc) repayable on demand
 b.  available to be called for work outside normal working hours
66.  within call within range; accessible
 
[Old English ceallian; related to Old Norse kalla, Old High German kallōn, Old Slavonic glasǔ voice]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

call
O.E. ceallian "to call, shout," less common than clipian; replaced by related O.N. kalla "to cry loudly," from P.Gmc. *kallojanan (cf. Du. kallen "to talk," O.H.G. kallon "to call"), from PIE base *gal- "to call, scream, shriek, shout" (cf. Skt. garhati "bewail, criticize;" L. gallus "cock;" O.H.G. klaga,
Ger. Klage "complaint, grievance, lament, accusation;" O.E. clacu "affront;" O.C.S. glasu "voice," glagolu "word;" Welsh galw "call"). As a noun, from early 14c. Meaning "to give a name to" is mid-13c. Coin-toss sense is from 1801. Meaning "to visit" (M.E.) was literally "to stand at the door and call;" noun sense of "a short formal visit" is from 1862. Telephone/telegraph sense is from 1889. To call out someone to fight (1823) corresponds to Fr. provoqueur. To call it a day is from 1834.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

call definition


  1. n.
    a decision; a prediction. : The market behaved just as you said it would. Good call.
  2. tv.
    to challenge someone. : I called him, but he ignored me.
  3. n.
    the early effects of a drug; the beginning of a rush; a rush. (Drugs.) : You may not get the call on this stuff for twenty minutes or more.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Easton
Bible Dictionary

Call definition


(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2). (2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex. 31:2; Isa. 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matt. 9:13; 11:28; 22:4). In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom. 9:24, 25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (John 3:14-19; Matt. 22:14). An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Acts 26: 18; John 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (John 6:45; Acts 16:14; Eph. 1:17).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

call for

  1. Go to get someone or something, as in John said he'd call for Mary at eight, or Someone's at the door, calling for the package. [First half of 1600s]

  2. Summon someone or something. For example, The audience called for the playwright, or The judge called for the verdict. [First half of 1500s]

  3. Require, demand, as in This job calls for a lot of patience. [First half of 1700s] Also see no call for; uncalled for.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Partners:WordBloglinesCitysearchThe Daily BeastAsk AnswersAsk KidsLife123SendoriHome Advisor
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
About PRIVACY POLICY Terms API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Suggest a Word Help
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT