Call hither Clifford; bid him come amain --Shak.
2. To summon to the discharge of a particular duty; to
designate for an office, or employment, especially of a
religious character; -- often used of a divine summons;
as, to be called to the ministry; sometimes, to invite;
as, to call a minister to be the pastor of a church.
Paul . . . called to be an apostle --Rom. i. 1.
The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. --Acts
xiii. 2.
3. To invite or command to meet; to convoke; -- often with
together; as, the President called Congress together; to
appoint and summon; as, to call a meeting of the Board of
Aldermen.
Now call we our high court of Parliament. --Shak.
4. To give name to; to name; to address, or speak of, by a
specifed name.
If you would but call me Rosalind. --Shak.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night. --Gen. i. 5.
5. To regard or characterize as of a certain kind; to
denominate; to designate.
What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
--Acts x. 15.
6. To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to
characterize without strict regard to fact; as, they call
the distance ten miles; he called it a full day's work.
[The] army is called seven hundred thousand men.
--Brougham.
7. To show or disclose the class, character, or nationality
of. [Obs.]
This speech calls him Spaniard. --Beau. & Fl.
8. To utter in a loud or distinct voice; -- often with off;
as, to call, or call off, the items of an account; to call
the roll of a military company.
No parish clerk who calls the psalm so clear. --Gay.
I call God for a witness. --2 Cor. i. 23
[Rev. Ver. ]
10. To rouse from sleep; to awaken.
If thou canst awake by four o' the clock. I prithee
call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly. --Shak.
{To call a bond}, to give notice that the amount of the bond
will be paid.
{To call a party} (Law), to cry aloud his name in open court,
and command him to come in and perform some duty requiring
his presence at the time on pain of what may befall him.
{To call back}, to revoke or retract; to recall; to summon
back.
{To call down}, to pray for, as blessing or curses.
{To call forth}, to bring or summon to action; as, to call
forth all the faculties of the mind.
{To call in},
(a) To collect; as, to call in debts or money; ar to
withdraw from cirulation; as, to call in uncurrent
coin.
(b) To summon to one's side; to invite to come together;
as, to call in neighbors.
{To call (any one) names}, to apply contemptuous names (to
any one).
{To call off}, to summon away; to divert; as, to call off the
attention; to call off workmen from their employment.
{To call out}.
(a) To summon to fight; to challenge.
(b) To summon into service; as, to call out the militia.
{To call over}, to recite separate particulars in order, as a
roll of names.
{To call to account}, to demand explanation of.
{To call to mind}, to recollect; to revive in memory.
{To call to order}, to request to come to order; as:
(a) A public meeting, when opening it for business.
(b) A person, when he is transgressing the rules of
debate.
{To call to the bar}, to admit to practice in courts of law.
{To call up}.
(a) To bring into view or recollection; as to call up the
image of deceased friend.
(b) To bring into action or discussion; to demand the
consideration of; as, to call up a bill before a
legislative body.
Syn: To name; denominate; invite; bid; summon; convoke;
assemble; collect; exhort; warn; proclaim; invoke;
appeal to; designate.
Usage: {To Call}, {Convoke}, {Summon}. Call is the generic
term; as, to call a public meeting. To convoke is to
require the assembling of some organized body of men
by an act of authority; as, the king convoked
Parliament. To summon is to require attendance by an
act more or less stringent anthority; as, to summon a
witness.
I rose as at thy call, but found thee not. --Milton.
2. A signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon
soldiers or sailors to duty.
3. (Eccl.) An invitation to take charge of or serve a church
as its pastor.
4. A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of
the case; a moral requirement or appeal.
Dependence is a perpetual call upon humanity.
--Addison.
Running into danger without any call of duty.
--Macaulay.
5. A divine vocation or summons.
St. Paul himself believed he did well, and that he
had a call to it, when he persecuted the Christians.
--Locke.
6. Vocation; employment.
Note: [In this sense, calling is generally used.]
7. A short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the
daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders.
The baker's punctual call. --Cowper.
8. (Hunting) A note blown on the horn to encourage the
hounds.
9. (Naut.) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his
mate, to summon the sailors to duty.
10. (Fowling) The cry of a bird; also a noise or cry in
imitation of a bird; or a pipe to call birds by imitating
their note or cry.
11. (Amer. Land Law) A reference to, or statement of, an
object, course, distance, or other matter of description
in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a
corresponding object, etc., on the land.
12. The privilege to demand the delivery of stock, grain, or
any commodity, at a fixed, price, at or within a certain
time agreed on. [Brokers' Cant]
13. See {Assessment}, 4.
{At call}, or {On call}, liable to be demanded at any moment
without previous notice; as money on deposit.
{Call bird}, a bird taught to allure others into a snare.
{Call boy}
(a) A boy who calls the actors in a theater; a boy who
transmits the orders of the captain of a vessel to
the engineer, helmsman, etc.
(b) A waiting boy who answers a cal, or cames at the
ringing of a bell; a bell boy.
{Call note}, the note naturally used by the male bird to call
the female. It is artificially applied by birdcatchers as
a decoy. --Latham.
{Call of the house} (Legislative Bodies), a calling over the
names of members, to discover who is absent, or for other
purposes; a calling of names with a view to obtaining the
ayes and noes from the persons named.
{Call to the bar}, admission to practice in the courts.
You must call to the nurse. --Shak.
The angel of God called to Hagar. --Gen. xxi.
17.
2. To make a demand, requirement, or request.
They called for rooms, and he showed them one.
--Bunyan.
3. To make a brief visit; also, to stop at some place
designated, as for orders.
He ordered her to call at the house once a week.
--Temple.
{To call for}
(a) To demand; to require; as, a crime calls for
punishment; a survey, grant, or deed calls for the
metes and bounds, or the quantity of land, etc., which
it describes.
(b) To give an order for; to request. ``Whenever the coach
stopped, the sailor called for more ale.'' --Marryat.
{To call on}, {To call upon},
(a) To make a short visit to; as, call on a friend.
(b) To appeal to; to invite; to request earnestly; as, to
call upon a person to make a speech.
(c) To solicit payment, or make a demand, of a debt.
(d) To invoke or play to; to worship; as, to call upon
God.
{To call out} To call or utter loudly; to brawl.