call a cab

present singular third person calls a cab · participle present calling a cab · participle past called a cab · past called a cab

1. hobbiesTo raise one's arm to maintain balance while riding.

   An habitually raised arm, termed 'calling a cab', was the trademark of amateurism.

   1994, Dick Francis, Wild Horses, page 137

   1 more example

   Drawings of races sixty years ago show the riders trying to avoid catching their horses in the mouth by stretching forward with one arm and lifting the other hand backwards off the reins into the position known as 'calling a cab'. Although it is no longer the normal and recognized thing to do, 'calling a cab' is still occasionally seen when a jockey finds himself in difficulties over a fence.

   2002, Frank R. Scatoni, Finished Lines, page 181

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see call, cab. (to summon a taxi)