call-in
adjEtymology Deverbal from call in.
1
In which members of the public telephone the studio and talk live to the presenter.
Of a TV or radio programme
call in
verbalso spelled call-in1
To communicate with a base etc, by telephone.
- I was too unwell to work yesterday so I called in sick.
2
To report; communicate (a message) by telephone or similar.
- The hoaxer called in a bomb threat.
3
To pay a short visit.
- Near-synonym: call on (transitive)
- I'll call in this afternoon to pick up my prescription.
4
To summon someone, especially for help or advice.
- The government called in the army to deal with the riots.
- By the latter part of 1848, the throne of Hudson the Railway King who had been called in in 1845 as a superman to save the Eastern Counties Railway, was tottering to its fall, [...].1941 December, Kenneth Brown, “The Newmarket & Chesterford Railway—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 533:
5
To withdraw something from sale or circulation.
6
To request immediate repayment of (a debt).
- Derived terms
- call-in