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

In the run-up to Spain's 2023 Women's World Cup victory, players again called for improvements to the women's national team training and resources, with 15 players asking not to receive a national team call-up until the federation made changes. — Madeline Fox, NPR, 17 July 2026

Bo Davidson's tools light it up at Oracle after a September call-up. — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 17 July 2026

Verb

With a Triple-A pitcher called up for a spot start and a utilityman smacking an early two-run homer, the Boston Red Sox, having now won eight straight games, keep winning with an unlikely formula. — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 12 July 2026

Brayan Bello has been called up from Triple-A and will be available out of the bullpen for Sunday’s series finale against the New York Mets, the Red Sox announced Sunday morning. — Mac Cerullo, Hartford Courant, 12 July 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