'On call' definitions:

Definition of 'On call'

From: GCIDE
  • Call \Call\, n.
  • 1. The act of calling; -- usually with the voice, but often otherwise, as by signs, the sound of some instrument, or by writing; a summons; an entreaty; an invitation; as, a call for help; the bugle's call. "Call of the trumpet." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • I rose as at thy call, but found thee not. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon soldiers or sailors to duty. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Eccl.) An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of the case; a moral requirement or appeal. [1913 Webster]
  • Dependence is a perpetual call upon humanity. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • Running into danger without any call of duty. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. A divine vocation or summons. [1913 Webster]
  • St. Paul himself believed he did well, and that he had a call to it, when he persecuted the Christians. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Vocation; employment.
  • Note: [In this sense, calling is generally used.] [1913 Webster]
  • 7. A short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders. [1913 Webster]
  • The baker's punctual call. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. (Hunting) A note blown on the horn to encourage the hounds. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. (Naut.) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate, to summon the sailors to duty. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. (Fowling) The cry of a bird; also a noise or cry in imitation of a bird; or a pipe to call birds by imitating their note or cry. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Amer. Land Law) A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land. [1913 Webster]
  • 12. The privilege to demand the delivery of stock, grain, or any commodity, at a fixed, price, at or within a certain time agreed on. [Brokers' Cant] [1913 Webster]
  • 13. See Assessment, 4. [1913 Webster]
  • At call, or On call, liable to be demanded at any moment without previous notice; as money on deposit.
  • Call bird, a bird taught to allure others into a snare.
  • Call boy (a) A boy who calls the actors in a theater; a boy who transmits the orders of the captain of a vessel to the engineer, helmsman, etc. (b) A waiting boy who answers a cal, or cames at the ringing of a bell; a bell boy.
  • Call note, the note naturally used by the male bird to call the female. It is artificially applied by birdcatchers as a decoy. --Latham.
  • Call of the house (Legislative Bodies), a calling over the names of members, to discover who is absent, or for other purposes; a calling of names with a view to obtaining the ayes and noes from the persons named.
  • Call to the bar, admission to practice in the courts. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'on call'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'On call'