call on

verb

called on; calling on; calls on

transitive verb

1

: to call upon

Is there anyone you can call on in an emergency?

2

: to elicit a response from (someone, such as a student)

the teacher called on her first

3

US, informal : to directly criticize (someone) for (something, such as bad behavior)

She's incredibly rude, but no one ever calls her on it.

Examples of call on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The party called on the government to investigate the attack. — Arkansas Online, 29 Sep. 2026

An Nvidia representative told reporters on a call on Sunday that its platform could have prevented OpenAI’s Hugging Face incident in July. — Kif Leswing, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026

Coach Kyle Shanahan dialed up a hook-and-ladder call on San Francisco's third play from scrimmage to turn a precarious third-and-12 from deep in 49ers territory into an 82-yard score. — CBS News, 28 Sep. 2026

Influential figures in college sports, including former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban and ESPN analyst Pat McAfee, have publicly called on Congress to pass the measure. — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for call on

• anton
• argon
• axon
• baronne
• baryon
• baton
• boron
• buisson
• bygone
• capon
• cardon
• chiffon