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call on

B1 neutral inseparable transitive
In simple words

Ask someone to speak or help, or go and visit someone.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To ask or invite a specific person to speak, act, or contribute, especially in a formal setting.

"The teacher called on Maria to answer the next question."

""I call on every nation to join us.""

— John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 neutral

To pay a visit to someone, especially at their home, for a social or professional purpose.

"The doctor called on several elderly patients who were unable to travel to the surgery."

Grammar: inseparable
3 B2 idiomatic neutral

To make use of a skill, resource, or quality that one possesses.

"In the final chapter, the author calls on her experience as a surgeon to great dramatic effect."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

In the classroom sense, teachers 'call on' students to answer a question. In the visit sense, it is somewhat formal and is more British English. Also used in formal appeals: 'I call on all nations to...'

Commonly used with

student speaker expert ally neighbour witness

Forms

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

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Synonyms

ask invite appeal to visit pay a call on turn to

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