call-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈkȯl-ˌəp 

1

: an order to report for military service

2

: a baseball player brought up to a major league team from the minor leagues

call up

2 of 2

verb

called up; calling up; calls up

transitive verb

1

: to summon together (as for a united effort)

call up all his forces for the attack

2

: to bring to mind : evoke

3

: to summon before an authority

4

a

: to summon for active military duty

b

: to bring up from a minor league to a major league baseball team

5

: to bring forward for consideration or action

6

: to retrieve from the memory of a computer especially for display and user interaction

Examples of call-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Netherlands never fully abolished its draft, but call-ups have been suspended since 1997 and there are no immediate plans to reintroduce them. —ABC News, 29 Apr. 2026

With Stanton tweaking his calf on Friday and not playing on Saturday and Sunday in Houston, word of Domínguez’s call-up broke Sunday night. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026

Verb

Gibson was sent back to Triple A after the game; the Marlins called up reliever Josh Ekness. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 2 May 2026

He’s allowed two or fewer runs in each of his four starts since being called up from Triple-A on April 15. —ABC News, 2 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1523, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for call-up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

call-up

noun

ˈkȯ-ˌləp

: an order to report for military service