Contextualizebeta

call

verb
/kɔːl/UK/kɔl//kɔl/US/kʰɔːɫ/CA

Etymology

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 Low German kallen (“to speak, 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”).

  1. derived from callis — “path”
  2. derived from caulae — “sheepfold”
  3. derived from calwe — “bald”

Definitions

  1. To reach out with one's voice.

    • That person is hurt; call for help!
    • So they called for Rooms; and he ſhewed them one for Christiana and her Children and Mercy, and another for Mr. Great-heart and the old Gentleman.

  2. To visit.

    • We could always call on a friend.
    • The engineer called round whilst you were away.
    • [...] He ordered Her to call at His Houſe once a Week, which She did for ſome Time; after which He heard no more of Her.

  3. To name, identify, or describe.

    • Why don’t we dispense with the formalities? Please call me Al.
    • Don't call me a liar.
  4. ›+ 35 more definitions

    1. To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.

      • The captains call the coin toss.

    2. Direct or indirect use of the voice.

    3. To require, demand.

      • He felt called to help the old man.

    4. To cause to be verbally subjected to.

      • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
      • The basis for his conclusion was called into doubt

    5. To lay claim to an object or role which is up for grabs.

      • I call the comfy chair!
      • Mr. Burns: Any of these islands would make a fine new country. / Homer: I call president! / Mr. Burns: Vice president! / Smithers: [groans]

    6. To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.

    7. To demand repayment of a loan.

    8. To jump to (another part of a program)

      To jump to (another part of a program); to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

      • A recursive function is one that calls itself.

    9. A cry or shout.

      • He heard a call from the other side of the room.

    10. The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.

      • That sound is the distinctive call of the cuckoo bird.

    11. A beckoning or summoning.

      • I had to yield to the call of the wild.
      • Dependance is a perpetual call upon humanity, and a greater incitement to tenderness and pity, than any other motive whatsoever.

    12. A telephone conversation

      A telephone conversation; a phone call.

      • I received several phone calls today.
      • I received several calls today.

    13. An instance of calling someone on the telephone.

      • I made a call to Jim, but he didn’t answer.

    14. A short visit, usually for social purposes.

      • I paid a call to a dear friend of mine.
      • He [...] ſeldom waits, / Dependent on the baker's punctual call, / To hear his creaking panniers at the door, / Angry and ſad and his laſt cruſt conſumed.
      • Podson stayed till after five, though he handsomely apologized for outstaying a call. "The fact is, I never think of the time, when I get talking to a really intelligent woman...'

    15. A visit by a ship or boat to a port.

      • The ship made a call at Southampton.

    16. A decision or judgement.

      • That was a good call.
      • Fair call actually, because don't the girls blow up when you miss an anniversary?

    17. The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event

      The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.

      • The Prime Minister has the call.
      • I give the call to the Manager of Opposition Business.

    18. Ellipsis of call option.

    19. The act of calling to the other batsman.

    20. The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)

    21. A work shift which requires one to be available when requested, i.e. on call.

      • page 48: “Mondays would be great, especially after a weekend of call.” page 56: “[…] I’ve got call tonight, and all weekend, but I’ll be off tomorrow to help you some.”

    22. The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.

    23. A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps,…

      A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.

      • There was a 20 dollar bet on the table, and my call was 9.

    24. The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of…

      The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.

    25. A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.

    26. A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.

    27. A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A…

      A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.

    28. An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.

    29. Vocation

      Vocation; employment; calling.

    30. A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of…

      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.

    31. A meeting with a client for paid sex

      A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.

    32. A lawyer who was called to the bar (became licensed as a lawyer) in a specified year.

      • The work was done by two lawyers, one a 1983 call and the other a 2010 call.

    33. Need

      Need; necessity.

      • There's no call for that kind of bad language!
      • CALL 2 need for. "There worn't noa call for nowt o't'soart."

    34. A surname.

    35. Initialism of computer-assisted language learning.

The neighborhood

Derived

becall, butter my butt and call it a biscuit, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, callability, callable, call a cab, call after, call again, call a go, call a halt, call ahead, call a lid, call an ambulance, call an audible, call and collect, call around, call a shovel a shovel, call a spade a shovel, call a spade a spade, call a spade a spade and a shovel a shovel, call away, call back, call balls and strikes, call bullshit, call by, call-by-future, call-by-name, call-by-need, call-by-reference, call down, called to straw, callee, call 'em as one sees 'em, caller, call for, call forth, call in, calling, calling bell, calling-card · +274 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at call. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01call02describe03represent04character05breed06birth07start08board09telephone

A definitional loop anchored at call. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at call

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA