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

With Freddy Fermin traded away to San Diego, the back-up catching job behind Salvador Pérez is open for the taking for 22-year-old prospect Carter Jensen, who had three homers in 20 games after a call-up last year. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Feb. 2026

That was a precautionary call-up, Gulutzan said, in case goalie Jake Oettinger does not return in time from Team USA’s celebrations. —Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas Morning News, 24 Feb. 2026

Verb

Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the predominantly Shiite areas of southern and eastern Lebanon as Israel threatened more strikes, called up 100,000 reservists and sent troops into southern Lebanon. —Elena Becatoros, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2026

So Carter called up Peter Morton, the suave American businessman who cofounded the Hard Rock Café and owned Morton’s. —Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 3 Mar. 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