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. (of an official)
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.
–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 a telephone booth 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, esp. 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.
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.
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 ME callen, prob. < ON kalla to call out, conflated with OE (West Saxon) ceallian to shout; c. MD kallen to talk, OHG kallôn to shout, akin to OE -calla herald, Ir gall swan, OCS glasŭ voice
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.
Idiom(s):
call it a day Informal To stop what one has been doing, for the remainder of the day or at least for the present.
Idiom(s):
call it a night Informal To stop what one has been doing, for the remainder of the night.
Idiom(s):
call it quits Informal To stop working or trying; quit.
Idiom(s):
call namesTo speak to or about another in offensive terms.
Idiom(s):
call of natureA need to urinate or defecate. Often used with answer: He left the room to answer the call of nature.
Idiom(s):
call (someone's) bluffTo challenge another with a display of strength or confidence.
Idiom(s):
call the shots/tune Informal To exercise authority; be in charge.
Idiom(s):
on call
Available when summoned for service or use: physicians who were on call for 48 hours.
Subject to payment on demand.
Idiom(s):
within callClose enough to come if summoned: The nurse is within call if you need him.
[Middle English callen, probably from Old Norse kalla; see gal- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to demand or request to appear, come, or assemble: called a taxi; convened a meeting; will convoke the legislature; mustering the militia; summoned a witness.
Our Living Language: African American Vernacular English (AAVE) uses call oneself with a present participle, as in They call themselves dancing, to express the idea that the people being talked about are not very good at what they're doing (in this example, dancing), even though they may think they are. This construction has a structure and meaning similar to the Standard English use of call oneself with a noun phrase or adjective, as in She calls herself intelligent or He calls himself a dancer.
To force an option writer to sell shares of stock at a price stipulated in a contract. Stocks usually are called just before the expiration of the options.
Main Entry: call Function: noun 1: a demand for payment of money: as a: a notice by the U.S. Treasury to depositories to transfer part of its deposit balance to the Federal Reserve bank b: a notice to a stockholder or subscriber to pay an assessment or an installment of subscription to capital 2:CALL OPTION at, OPTION 3 a: a formal announcement or recitation call of the motion calendar> b:ROLL CALLcall of the house>
Also, within hail. Near enough to hear a summons, as in Tommy's allowed to play outside but only within call of his mother, or We told them they could hike ahead of us but to stay within hail. The first term was first recorded in 1668, the variant in 1697.
[kawl] 
