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call out

phraseB12 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To call out is to shout in order to be heard — or to summon somebody to a job. Two senses, both about a voice carrying.

The shouting sense is plain, so calling out a name across a room. The summoning sense is professional, since calling out an engineer or a doctor means asking them to come, and the noun a call-out is that visit, with a call-out charge attached. There is a modern third sense about criticism, since calling somebody out means publicly naming what they have done wrong.

Definitions of call out

  1. 1phrasecall outTo shout in order to be heard.B1

    “He had to call out twice before anybody answered.”

  2. 2phrasesummonTo summon somebody to attend a job or emergency.B2

    “They had to call out the fire brigade at two in the morning.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, Sounds & Noises

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

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