call button

plural call buttons

1. A button used to request assistance.

   Their feeling, anachronistic as the servants’ call button in their dining room, is that if you don’t have the money for something, you don’t buy it.

   2008 April 17, Joyce Wadler, “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Solvent”, in The New York Times

   1 more example

   I was asleep, the plane dark as we flew over the Atlantic on our way from Johannesburg to São Paulo, when a familiar page came over the intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to wake you. If there is a doctor on board, please hit your call button."

   2013 April 4, Celine Gounder, “Medical Emergencies at 40,000 Feet”, in The Atlantic

2. A button used to request some form of mechanical service.
   1. A button used to request a walk signal at a pedestrian crossing.

      The Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon is designed to help pedestrians and bicyclists safely cross busy, multi-lane or high-speed streets. The beacon consists of two red lenses above a single yellow lens. The lenses remain “dark” until a pedestrian pushes the call button to activate the beacon.

      2021 February 26, Hannah Eason, “Richmond to install new traffic signals for pedestrians, bicyclists at crosswalks”, in NBC 12, Richmond, Va.: WWBT

      Synonyms: beg button

   2. A button used to summon an elevator.

      No more staring at closed elevator doors, repeatedly pressing a call button in frustration.

      2000 June 11, Mark Wallace, “Tech 2010: #29 Wait No More; The Elevator You Never Have to Wait For”, in The New York Times, section 6, page 96