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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Call Meaning, Examples, and Common Usage (3 meaning)

Meaning 1：make a phone call (call)

call 🔊

/kɔːl/

To make a phone to someone.

Woman smiling while making a phone call on smartphone in living room

make a phone call 🔊

➕

/meɪk ə fəʊn kɔːl/

The action of using a telephone to speak with someone at a distance.

📁 Category：Technological Inventions 🔖 Level：elementary

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Old English 'ceallian' (to shout), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną.

💡 Mnemonic

Picture a phone with a loud ring: 'CALL' reminds you to pick up and connect.

📖 Example

I'll call my parents after class to tell them about my progress. 🔊 After finishing my class, I will phone my parents to update them on my progress.

🔗 Collocations

call someone – to telephone someone

call back – to return a phone call

call in – to make a phone call to a place, especially to report something

🔄 Synonyms

ring (v.) – to make a phone call to someone, especially in British English

phone (v.) – to contact someone by telephone

dial (v.) – to enter a telephone number to make a call

🌱 Derivatives

caller (n.) – a person who makes a phone call

calling (n.) – the act of making a phone call

callback (n.) – a return phone call

📖 Cultural Story

Originally meaning 'to shout loudly', 'call' gained modern phone use after Alexander Graham Bell. Today it is essential in business terms like 'conference call' and 'call center'.

Meaning 2：address someone as (call)

call 🔊

/kɔːl/

To use a name or title for someone.

Teacher calling a student's name in a colorful classroom illustration

address someone as 🔊

➕

/əˈdrɛs ˈsʌmwʌn æz/

To refer to or designate someone with a particular name or title.

📁 Category：Social Roles 🔖 Level：elementary

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

In our family, we call our grandmother 'Nana'. 🔊 Within our family, we refer to our grandmother by the name 'Nana'.

🔗 Collocations

call someone by name – to address someone using their actual name

call the baby – to give the baby a name

call me – to use a specific name or title for oneself

🔄 Synonyms

name (v.) – to give a name to someone or something

label (v.) – to describe someone with a word or phrase, often a title

designate (v.) – to officially give a name or title to someone

Meaning 3：shout out (call)

call 🔊

/kɔːl/

To say something in a loud voice.

Person shouting encouragement to a runner at a sports stadium

shout out 🔊

➕

/ʃaʊt aʊt/

To speak or utter something loudly, typically to get attention or over a distance.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：elementary

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

He had to call his friend's name several times across the noisy playground. 🔊 He repeatedly shouted his friend's name across the loud playground.

🔗 Collocations

call out – to shout something, especially to get attention

call for help – to shout to ask for assistance

call to someone – to shout someone's name or a message to them from a distance

🔄 Synonyms

shout (v.) – to speak very loudly, often to be heard over noise or from far away

yell (v.) – to shout something loudly, especially in anger or excitement

cry (v.) – to shout or call out loudly, often in distress or excitement

🚫 Antonyms

whisper (v.) – to speak very softly using the breath rather than the voice

🌱 Derivatives

calling (n.) – the act of shouting or yelling

caller (n.) – a person who shouts something