prank call

noun

A practical joke played by calling the unsuspecting victim on the telephone, usually pretending to be somebody else.

Similar
crank call
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounprank call (plural prank calls)

plural prank calls

  1. A practical joke played by calling the unsuspecting victim on the telephone, usually pretending to be somebody else.

    Until noon only 251 prank calls to the Bronx Zoo had been sifted out, compared with the day-long total of 3352 on April 1, 1960. The pranksters would call Wellington 3-1500 to talk with a "Mr. Fox" (or Lyon, Bear or Wolf).

    1961 April 2, “April Fool Phone Calls Decline Sharply in City”, in New York Times, page 87

    Synonyms: crank call

verbprank call (third-person singular simple present prank calls, present participle prank calling, simple past and past participle prank called)

present singular third person prank calls · participle present prank calling · participle past prank called · past prank called

  1. transitiveTo call (an unsuspecting person) on the telephone as a practical joke.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA practical joke played by calling the unsuspecting victim on the telephone, usually pretending to be somebody else.

Similar
crank call

Translations

Arabic اِتِّصَال مَقْلَب
  • اِتِّصَال مَقْلَب (ittiṣāl maqlab)practical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Chinese Mandarin 惡作劇電話 /恶作剧电话, 整蠱電話 /整蛊电话
  • 惡作劇電話 /恶作剧电话 (èzuòjù diànhuà)practical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
  • 整蠱電話 /整蛊电话 (zhěnggǔ diànhuà)practical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Finnish pilapuhelu
  • pilapuhelupractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
German Scherzanruf, Telefonstreich
  • Scherzanrufpractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
  • Telefonstreichpractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Japanese 悪戯電話
  • 悪戯電話 (itazura denwa)practical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Portuguese trote
  • trotepractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Spanish chanza telefónica
  • chanza telefónicapractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Swedish busringning
  • busringningpractical joke made by calling victim on the telephone
Cite this entry
APA

prank call. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prank%20call

MLA

“prank call.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prank%20call. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prank call,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prank%20call.

Source: prank call on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.