callout

1 of 2

noun

call·​out ˈkȯl-ˌau̇t 

1

: the act or an instance of calling out

2

: an often bordered inset in a printed article or illustration that usually includes a key excerpt or detail

call out

2 of 2

verb

called out; calling out; calls out

transitive verb

1

: to summon into action

call out troops

2

: to challenge to a duel

3

: to order on strike

call out the workers

4

: to publicly criticize or fault (someone)

The FDA will have to start forcing companies to be transparent and call them out on it when they're not.

—Massimo Calabresi et al.

Examples of callout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But when Ngannou tagged him in a public callout, the message reached him quickly. —Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025

Kyle MacLachlan, Rosanna Pansino, and Ayo Edebiri have all found the humor in Donaldson’s strange callout — even John Cena posted a pic of Hearon in support. —Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025

Verb

Supporting this view, Huang called out that that capital expenditures from the top four U.S. cloud service providers alone is tracking to be about $600 billion this year. —CNBC, 28 Aug. 2025

The two have been together since 2023, when Kelce called out Swift on his podcast for not hanging out with him after her Eras Tour show in Kansas City, which is the thing that really, finally made the queen of heartbreak songs fall in love for real and for good. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1887, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for callout

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout