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call on
call on someone
to court someone. Jim's calling on the new cook over at the Browns'. In the old days, a boy had to ask a girl's father for permission to come call on her.
call on something
Fig. to draw on something, such as a particular quality or talent. This project calls on all the creative skills you can gather together. It calls on everything you've got.
call (up)on someone
1. to visit someone. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) My mother's friends call upon her every Wednesday. Let's call on Mrs. Franklin this afternoon.
2. to choose someone to respond, as in a classroom. The teacher called upon me, but I was not ready to recite. Please don't call on me. I can't remember a thing.
call (up)on someone (to do something)
to choose someone to do something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) I call upon all of you to make your feelings known to your elected representatives. I called on George for his help, but he refused.
call (up)on someone (to do something)
to choose someone to do something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) I call upon all of you to make your feelings known to your elected representatives. I called on George for his help, but he refused.
call on somebody
1. to ask someone to do something The governor called on the public to use less water during this dry weather. The teacher called on me with a tough question, and I didn't know the answer.
2. to visit someone Part of my job was to go out and call on farmers, to see how they were doing.
call on
Also, call upon.
1. Make a request, ask for, choose, as in We are calling upon you to run for chairman, or The teacher called on Joe to answer. [c. 1400]
2. Pay a brief visit, as in The salesman said he'd call on me in the morning. Shakespeare had this usage in Antony and Cleopatra (1:4): "I'll call upon you ere you go to bed." [Late 1500s]
call on
v.1. To select or request someone to undertake a particular activity: The teacher always calls on the students in the back row to answer questions.
2. To make use of some resource; draw on something: I called on all my strength to lift the rock that had fallen on my foot.
3. To visit someone: I called on my neighbors last night and returned a book I had borrowed.
4. To challenge someone on the truth or accuracy of something that has been said: When the magician boasted that he could juggle blindfolded, we called him on it, and he was forced to admit he was lying.
5. To tell someone that one has noticed that he or she has done something wrong: When I called her on her bad behavior, she apologized and said that it would not happen again.