CALL


Meaning of CALL in English

I.

noun

1 on the telephone

ADJECTIVE

▪ phone , telephone

▪ long

▪ quick , short

I'll just make a quick phone ~.

▪ local

▪ international , long-distance

▪ collect ( esp. AmE )

▪ incoming

▪ outgoing

▪ conference

▪ business , follow-up , sales , telemarketing ( esp. AmE )

We always make follow-up ~s to ensure customer satisfaction.

▪ personal

We're not supposed to make personal ~s from work.

▪ emergency , urgent

He received an urgent ~ and had to leave.

▪ frantic

She made a frantic phone ~ 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 ~ for 6.30 the next morning.

Last night's defeat should be a wake-up ~ for the team. ( figurative )

VERB + CALL

▪ give sb , make , place

Give us a ~ to say when you have arrived.

She placed an anonymous ~ to the Dutch Embassy in Dublin.

▪ get , have , receive

▪ answer , deal with , field , handle , take

I'll take the ~ upstairs.

He spent the whole day fielding ~s from concerned parents.

▪ return

I left a message but he didn't return my ~.

▪ expect

Could you get off the phone? I'm expecting a ~.

▪ miss

She was out and missed an important ~.

▪ end , finish

I ended the ~ as quickly as possible.

▪ put through , transfer

Ask the receptionist to put your ~ through to my room.

▪ intercept , monitor , screen , trace

The police managed to trace the ~.

CALL + NOUN

▪ box ( BrE )

▪ centre/center

PREPOSITION

▪ ~ for

Were there any ~s for me while I was out?

▪ ~ from

You had a ~ from Fred.

▪ ~ to

I made a ~ to a friend in London.

2 sound to attract attention

ADJECTIVE

▪ loud

▪ distinctive

the distinctive ~ of the cuckoo

▪ alarm , distress

▪ bird

▪ clarion , rallying ( both figurative )

This election is a clarion ~ for our country to face the challenges of the new era.

VERB + CALL

▪ let out , make , sound

The mosque was sounding the ~ to prayer.

▪ hear

PREPOSITION

▪ ~ for

a ~ for help

▪ ~ to

the morning ~ to prayer

3 short visit

ADJECTIVE

▪ business , courtesy , sales , social

▪ house

The doctor does not usually make house ~s.

VERB + CALL

▪ make , pay (sb)

The doctor has several ~s to make this morning.

PREPOSITION

▪ on a ~

She's out on a ~.

▪ ~ on

When he went to Ethiopia, his first ~ was on the ambassador.

PHRASES

▪ first port of ~ , last port of ~ , next port of ~

Our first port of ~ ( = the first place we went ) was the bank.

4 request/demand

ADJECTIVE

▪ renewed , repeated

▪ last

This is the last ~ for PAM flight 199 to Salvador.

▪ strike ( BrE )

VERB + CALL

▪ issue

▪ renew , repeat

Campaigners have renewed their ~ for an independent inquiry.

▪ answer , heed , respond to

It is unlikely that they will heed ~s for a crackdown.

Around 10 000 workers heeded the union's strike ~. ( BrE )

▪ ignore , reject , resist

The government has resisted the ~s of the international community.

CALL + NOUN

▪ button

He pushed the ~ button for the flight attendant.

PREPOSITION

▪ ~ for

The charity issued a ~ for donations to assist victims of the earthquake.

PHRASES

▪ a ~ to action

The book is a ~ to action.

▪ a ~ to arms (= a strong request for people to fight in the army) ( often figurative )

The president's speech was a ~ to arms to restore the vitality of the American dream.

5 ( informal ) decision

ADJECTIVE

▪ tough

▪ close

▪ judgement/judgment

▪ line , strike ( both sports )

II.

verb

1 give a name to sb/sth

ADVERB

▪ commonly , frequently

Buenos Aires is often ~ed the Paris of South America.

▪ formerly , originally

The area was formerly ~ed West Meadow.

▪ affectionately

His friends affectionately ~ him ‘Bear’.

▪ just , simply

a character whom the writer ~s simply ‘The Girl’

▪ officially

The system is officially ~ed the NPV System.

▪ collectively

a range of very small organisms, collectively ~ed nanoplankton

▪ variously

a tree variously ~ed ‘rowan’ and ‘mountain ash’

▪ aptly , rightly

▪ tentatively

He is writing a novel, tentatively ~ed ‘My Future’.

▪ euphemistically

soldiers killed by what is euphemistically ~ed ‘friendly fire’

PREPOSITION

▪ by

We usually ~ him by his nickname.

PHRASES

▪ you could hardly ~ sth …  , you would hardly ~ sth … 

You could hardly ~ the show perfect, but it was successful.

2 make sound to attract attention

ADVERB

▪ softly

▪ loudly

▪ out

She ~ed out in pain.

PREPOSITION

▪ for

He ~ed for help, but no one could hear.

▪ to

a female penguin ~ing to her mate

3 telephone

ADVERB

▪ back

I'll ~ back later.

Leave a message and I'll ~ you back.

▪ ahead

You should ~ 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 subject: ↑ critic , ↑ duty , ↑ judge , ↑ prosecution , ↑ viewer , ↑ voice

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

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .