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

At this rate, the Blue Jackets’ first forward call-up would probably be Luca Del Bel Belluz (3-2-5), Luca Pinelli (2-2-4) or Mikael Pyyhtiä (1-4-5), who have all started well for Cleveland. —Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 3 Nov. 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

Dennis Hildeby was called up after an up-and-down start to the season. —Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025

The political situation had other consequences with a number of oriundi, most notably Enrique Guaita, returning to South America for fear of being called up to fight in Abyssinia. —Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 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