call _verb

1-) to say or shout something

ADVERBS

softly, quietly
・He called softly into the darkness. 

loudly
・She called loudly enough for everyone at the bar to hear.

NOUNS

name
・I called her name but she didn’t hear me.

number 
・When they call your number, go to the desk.

greeting
・Everyone clustered around them, calling greetings.

register
・At the beginning of each day, the teacher calls the register.

PREPOSITIONS

to
・In the distance, someone was calling to her.

for  
・Your mother’s been calling for you – didn’t you hear her? 
・He called for help, but no-one heard him.

into
・The head teacher called me into her office.

PHRASES

call sb over
・He called the waitress over and ordered a cup of coffee.

call sb back 
・I was just about to leave when he called me back.

call out
・He kept calling out in his sleep.

2-) to use a telephone to contact someone

NOUNS

number
・I called your number, but there was no reply.

cab, taxi
・Would you like me to call you a cab?

doctor, ambulance 
・There was no time to call a doctor.
・If this happens again, call an ambulance.

police
・Get off my land or I’ll call the police!

fire service, fire brigade
・We called the fire brigade to make sure the fire was out.

PHRASES

call back
・Sam’s not here at the moment – can you call back later?

call around 
・ I called around to see if anyone knew where Tom was.

call (sb) collect
・He was calling collect from a pay phone.

call sb on the phone
・He called me on the phone and said “You’ve got the job!”

call in sick
・Anna’s not here – she called in sick this morning.

wait for sb to call
・She sat by the phone waiting for Dan to call.

3-) to ask for something to happen

(In this meaning, call is always used in the phrases call for sth)

NOUNS

resignation 
・Opposition parties called for the president’s resignation.

action, reform, change 
・The European Parliament has called for action on age discrimination.
・The Church has called for reform of the law.
・Scientists are calling for a change in the law.

ban, boycott
・French farmers have called for a ban on imports.
・In 1980 he called for a boycott of the Olympic Games.

inquiry, investigation 
・Relatives called for an inquiry into the causes of the plane crash.

abolition, removal, lifting
・Human rights groups have called for the abolition of the death penalty.

creation, establishment
・The report called for the establishment of an ‘ecological police force’.

calm, unity, cooperation 
・The government is calling for calm...

ceasefire
・The United Nations called for an immediate ceasefire.

PREPOSITIONS

for
・The party leader called for unity.

PHRASES

call for an end to/a return to sth
・Demonstrators have called for an end to the fighting.
・The prime minister called for a return to traditional values.

call on sb to do sth
・He called on the prime minister to resign.

call _noun

ADJECTIVES & NOUNS 

phone, telephone 
・I had a phone call from Barbara in Australia.

quick
・This is just a quick call to make sure you’re OK.

local
・Local calls are free at weekends.

long-distance
・I’d like to make a long-distance call.

international
・International calls are getting much cheaper these days.

collect
・Can I make a collect call to Florida, please?

incoming, outgoing
・You have to dial 9 first to make an outgoing call.

emergency
・The police normally respond immediately to an emergency call.

hoax 
・They received a hoax call warning of a bomb in the building.

anonymous
・The £10,000 demand was made in an anonymous call to his home.

crank
・The heavy breathing sounded like a crank call.

nuisance
・When you work from home, you get a lot of nuisance calls.

VERBS

give
・I’ll give him a call later today.

make
・He made three calls, the first of which was to Lily.
・I just need to make a phone call.

get, receive, have
・At 11 in the evening we got a call from the police.

answer
・We’re sorry that we cannot answer your call right now.

take
・Monica took the call upstairs.

return
・I left a message for her but she didn’t return my call.

expect
・She’s expecting a phone call from Matt.

transfer
・The call was transferred to his secretary.

put through
・She asked the switchboard to put the call through.

PHRASES

there is/was a call
・There was a call for you while you were out.