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call back

A2 neutral separable both
In simple words

Phone someone back after they called you, or ask someone to come back.

Literal meaning: To call someone back — returning the communicative or physical direction.

Meanings

1 A2 neutral

To telephone someone in return after they called you, or after you were unavailable.

"I missed your call this morning — I'll call you back after lunch."

Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

To ask someone to return to a place, or to officially require something to be returned (e.g. a product recall).

"The manufacturer called back thousands of vehicles due to a safety defect."

""Ford is calling back over 200,000 vehicles after reports of brake failures.""

— BBC News, 2018
Grammar: separable
3 B1 neutral

To invite a job candidate to return for a further stage of the selection process.

"We were impressed with your interview and we'd like to call you back for a second round."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Extremely common in everyday English. The phone sense is universal. The sense of recalling someone (e.g. a product recall, or asking a candidate back for an interview) is also frequent.

Commonly used with

message missed call candidate product interview number

Forms

Base
call back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
calls back
he/she/it
Past simple
called back
yesterday
Past participle
called back
have + pp
-ing form
calling back
continuous

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Synonyms

return a call ring back phone back recall summon back

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