prank call

noun

plural prank calls

: a phone call made for the purpose of pranking, upsetting, or harassing someone

… describes … making giggly prank calls and getting ill-advised perms …

—L. Aase

… makes prank calls to friends and tries to rile them up with an outrageous lie.

—Billy Masters

Swatting is when a prank call or false report is made of an emergency with the intention of provoking an armed response by law enforcement.

—Kyra Howard

prank call transitive verb

prank called; prank calling; prank calls

My friends and I would stay up all night, talking for hours, prank calling strangers just to hear someone laugh or slam the phone down.

—Joshua Ray Walker

prank caller noun

plural prank callers

A prank caller is harassing … residents by making early morning calls claiming to be an emergency room doctor and reporting that a relative or loved one has been involved in a serious accident.

—Steve LaRue

Word History

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined above