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 22-year-old earned her first senior call-up from interim head coach Twila Kilgore in March 2024 for the SheBelieves Cup, but did not make it onto the field. —Asli Pelit, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025

Finally, after eight long months and a 34-game schedule interrupted by three international tournaments and national team call-ups, the 2025 MLS playoffs kick off this week. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2025

Verb

But he was called up in June that year and had even pitched once the season before. —Jayson Stark, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

Michael Callahan, who was called up from Providence on Wednesday and made his season debut on Thursday, bumped up with McAvoy. —Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 24 Oct. 2025

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