Call (verb) means to contact someone by telephone, to shout in order to attract attention, or to give a name or label to something or someone. As a noun, a call is a telephone conversation or an instance of shouting out.
What Does Call Mean?
Call is one of the most common and versatile words in English. Its core meaning is to make contact — either by telephone, by raising your voice, or by giving a designation. It comes from Old Norse kalla (to shout, to cry out) and entered Middle English around the 13th century. Before the telephone existed, call already meant both to shout and to pay a brief visit. The telephone sense developed in the late 19th century and is now its most frequent use in everyday British English.
The word belongs to the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) because it appears constantly in basic communication: making arrangements, giving names, and requesting attention. However, its many phrasal verb forms — call off, call back, call out, call for — extend its usefulness right up to C1 and beyond.
In British English, call also carries a formal sense of a brief visit, particularly in professional contexts: "The doctor will call at nine." This usage is less common in American English, where stop by or come over would typically be used instead.
Example Sentences (A2–C1)
| Sentence | Level & usage note |
|---|---|
| She called to say she would be late. | A2 — telephoning, basic past simple |
| Can you call me back when you're free? | A2/B1 — phrasal verb: call back |
| They called the new policy a breakthrough, though critics disagreed. | B1/B2 — naming / labelling with noun complement |
| The manager called an emergency meeting for the following morning. | B2 — to arrange or convene an event |
| The inspector's report called into question the company's entire approach to risk management. | C1 — idiomatic: call into question = to challenge or cast doubt on |
Common Collocations
| Collocation | Example |
|---|---|
| make a call | I need to make a quick call before we leave. |
| take a call | She stepped outside to take a call. |
| give someone a call | Give me a call when you get home. |
| answer a call | Nobody answered the call for volunteers. |
| call a meeting | The chair called a meeting for Thursday. |
| call someone's name | The teacher called every student's name in turn. |
| close call | That was a close call — the car nearly hit us. |
| on call | The GP is on call every third weekend. |
Usage Notes — Formal vs Informal
Register guide
Common Mistakes
Watch Out For
I called to him by phone yesterday.
I called him yesterday. (No preposition needed for the telephone sense.)
She called at me from across the street.
She called to me from across the street. (Use "to" when shouting to attract someone's attention.)
They called off the match because of the rain was heavy.
They called off the match because of the heavy rain. (Phrasal verb followed by a noun phrase, not a clause.)