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 23-year-old forward, who can play both centre and wing, scored three goals and two assists in four AHL games, which earned him an NHL call-up. —Harman Dayal, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026

If any injury hits the team's infield, Miller will most likely be the first call-up. —Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026

Verb

Vogue called up Dirx to chat about her now-viral walk. —Christian Allaire, Vogue, 15 Feb. 2026

No player has been called up to the USWNT while actively playing in Mexico, and only two players, Mia Fishel and Ayo Oke, have been called up at all after starring in the league and then moving clubs. —Theo Lloyd-Hughes, New York Times, 13 Feb. 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