name-check

1 of 2

noun

ˈnām-ˌchek 

variants or namecheck or name check

plural name-checks or namechecks or name checks

: a specific and usually public mention or acknowledgment of someone or something by name

It's not surprising that Chekhov gets a namecheck in Marion Bridge, which is playing in a superbly performed production through Aug. 25 at Hudson Village Theatre … . That Chekhov nod comes from boozy, disillusioned actress Agnes (Leni Parker), whose unsuccessful career has included appearing in plays by the Russian master …

—Jim Burke

[Marianne] Williamson began giving her talks in 1983 at the Philosophical Research Society on Los Feliz Boulevard (the nonprofit, which gets a name-check in McWilliam's chapter on the abundant flowering of Southern California occultism, is still in operation).

—Julia Wick

name-check

2 of 2

verb

variants or less commonly namecheck

name-checked also namechecked; name-checking also namechecking; name-checks also namechecks

transitive verb

: to mention or acknowledge (someone or something) specifically and publicly by name

… he is an avid collector of contemporary art, although he alone turns the pursuit to his singular ends in lyrics that knowingly name-check everyone from Jeff Koons to Jean-Michel Basquiat.

—Guy Trebay

"… I couldn't wait that long for another box of Shipley's," he said, name-checking the local doughnut shop that catered the event.

—Mara Gay

Last year, the show's fans successfully petitioned for McDonald's to bring back its limited-edition Szechuan sauce from 1998 after it was namechecked in an episode.

—Luke Morgan Britton

Examples of name-check in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Starmer was in a hurry to name-check things that his government was actually doing: introducing a new bill to strengthen workers’ rights and hosting an upcoming international investment summit. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2024

The commercial rightly focuses on other details, such as cinematic slow motion on the iPhone 16 Pro, and EE’s prowess in 5G. Apple Intelligence gets a name-check at the very end, and the new Siri animation briefly crosses a parent’s iPhone display. —David Phelan, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2024

The pharmaceutical group’s market value eclipsed the annual GDP of its native Denmark last year, and policymakers regularly name-check Novo, noting the group’s influence on the country’s financial system. —Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 24 Sep. 2024

Some of its advocates will name-check the kinds of critiques that leftists would also endorse, of consumer society, workplace demands in a neoliberal economy, and exorbitant housing prices—all forces that could make young people reluctant to have children. —Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1972, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1986, in the meaning defined above