Word of the Day: Call
Use the word “call” as a noun or as a verb when communicating with another person by phone or in person.
In this first set of examples, “call” is a noun for telephone technology:
- I got a phone call.
- I have to take this call.
- Shondra received a call for a job interview.
- Lester is trying to make a call.
- It’s not a good idea to take a call while you are driving a car. (take a call = answer the phone)
You can also use “call” as a verb that describes the action of taking or making a phone call:
- Call me when you get home.
- Your mother called to say she has some good news.
- Who are you calling? (Or you can use “whom” in this question because it’s an object.)
- Who called? (“Who” is the subject.)
- Has anyone called about the car?
There are many different circumstances under which the word “call” is used:
- The teacher called on Rosa to answer the question.
- Bill feels a calling to help those who are less fortunate than he is. (a calling = a spiritual motivation)
- Mohamed has to keep his eye on his cell phone tonight because he’s on call. (on call = available immediately as part of one’s job.)
- Volunteer fire fighters are on call 24/7. (24/7 = 24 hours a day, seven days a week)
- Salespeople often have to make cold calls as part of their job. (cold call = a phone call or personal visit made in order to sell something to a customer)
- Sandy works as a call girl. (call girl = female escort who is paid to have a relationship with a man)
- Saritha works at a call center. (call center = a place that takes phone calls from customers)
- What is this called? (What is the name of the this thing?)
- A soldier answers the call of duty. (call of duty = to sacrifice oneself for a cause)
- He called her a name. (call a name = to say something mean about another person)
- It’s not nice to call other people names.
Essential English Dictionary
Visit the Popular English Words Beginning with C page to see the list of all words starting with letter C. For seeing the HiCafe dictionary, visit the Popular English Words with Meaning page.
