Meanings
present singular third person calls up · participle present calling up · participle past called up · past called up
- transitiveTo retrieve from personal or computer memory.
I remember looking in the card catalogue of the main Public Library under "Homosexuality" and not daring to call up the books because "they" might think I was one.
1976 April 17, A. Nolder Gay, “The View from the Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 131 more example
The Emoji Movie takes place in “Textopolis,” where emojis maintain their assigned expression with no deviation, waiting to be called up for their on-screen appearance as needed.
2017 July 27, Tony Leondis, “The Emoji Movie is Inside Out crossed with a Sony commercial and dunked in toxic ooze”, in The Onion AV Club - transitiveTo summon (someone) to report for military service.
“I don’t know if I’ll go to war or not, I don’t know what process the guys who are being called up are going through,” he wrote. “At the moment, our army is fully coping with the offensives of Russian soldiers and equipment.”
2022 March 4, John Branch, “He Won an Olympic Silver for Ukraine. Now He’s Hiding in a Kyiv Garage.”, in The New York Times - idiomatictransitiveTo call on the telephone.
The other night, you wouldn't believe The dream I just had about you and me I called you up, but we both agree It's for the best you didn't listen
2012, Jeff Bhasker, Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff, “Some Nights”, in Some Nights), performed by fun.1 more example
You take that book Of Human Bondage, by Somerset Maugham, though. I read it last summer. It’s a pretty good book and all, but I wouldn’t want to call Somerset Maugham up. I don’t know. He just isn't the kind of a guy I'd want to call up, that's all.
1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 25Synonyms: ring up
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo call on the telephone.
More synonyms by meaning
verbget or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone
verbrecall knowledge from memory; have a recollection
verbcause to become available for use, either literally or figuratively
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Dutch opbellen, bellen
- opbellento call on telephone
- bellento call on telephone
Finnish palauttaa muistiin, hakea muistista
- palauttaa muistiinto retrieve from memory
- hakea muististato retrieve from memory
- kutsuato select
- valitato select
- soittaato call on telephone
French sélectionner, appeler
- sélectionnerto select
- appelerto call on telephone
German abrufen, einberufen
- abrufento retrieve from memory
- einberufento summon for military service
- aufstellento select
- auswählento select
- einberufento select
- anrufento call on telephone
- anklingelnto call on telephone
- anläutento call on telephone
- telefoniento call on telephone
Italian rievocare, prendere
- rievocareto retrieve from memory
- prendereto retrieve from memory
- selezionareto select
- chiamareto call on telephone
Cite this entry
call up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20up
“call up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20up. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “call up,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20up.
Source: call up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.