To ask or invite someone to do something, or to pay a visit to someone.
Ask someone to speak or help, or go and visit someone.
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
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
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."
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."
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...'
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
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