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

There is something extra special about this call-up. —Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2026

After that call-up in 2025, Barnett started five games, surrendering 17 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks. —Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026

Verb

Jonah Cox has hit his way from the ninth spot in a minor league batting order to a call up to the Major Leagues. —Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

Colorado native Jonah Cox, called up from Double-A before the game, made his major league debut as a pinch runner in the eighth and doubled in the ninth for San Francisco. —CBS News, 31 May 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