1. [n]  the option to buy a given stock (or stock index or commodity future) at a given price before a given date
2. [n]  (sports) the decision made by an umpire or referee; "he was ejected for protesting the call"
3. [n]  brief visit in an official or professional capacity; "the pastor's visits to his parishioners"; "a visit to a dentist"; "the salesman's call on a customer"
4. [n]  a brief social visit; "senior professors' wives no longer make afternoon calls on newcomers"
5. [n]  a special disposition (as if from a divine source) to pursue a particular course; "he was disappointed that he had not heard the Call"
6. [n]  a telephone connection; "she reported several anonymous calls"; "he placed a phone call to London"; "he heard the phone ringing but didn't want to take the call"
7. [n]  an instruction that interrupts the program being executed; "Pascal performs calls by simply giving the name of the routine to be executed"
8. [n]  the characteristic sound produced by a bird; "a bird will not learn its song unless it hears it at an early age"
9. [n]  a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition; "the speaker was interrupted by loud cries from the rear of the audience"
10. [n]  a request; "many calls for Christmas stories"; "not many calls for buggywhips"
11. [n]  a demand especially in the phrase"the call of duty"
12. [n]  a demand for a show of hands in a card game; "after two raises there was a call"
13. [n]  a demand by a broker that a customer deposit enough to bring his margin up to the minimum requirement
14. [v]  rouse somebody from sleep with a call; "I was called at 5 A.M. this morning"
15. [v]  consider or regard as being; "I would not call her beautiful"
16. [v]  challenge the sincerity or truthfulness of; "call the speaker on a question of fact"
17. [v]  utter in a loud voice or announce; "He called my name"; "The auctioneer called the bids"
18. [v]  order, summon, or request for a specific duty or activity, work, role; "He was already called 4 times for jury duty"; "They called him to active military duty"
19. [v]  order or request or give a command for; "The unions called a general strike for Sunday"
20. [v]  lure by imitating the characteristic call of an animal; "Call ducks"
21. [v]  get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone; "I tried to call you all night"; "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning"
22. [v]  order, request, or command to come; "She was called into the director's office"; "Call the police!"
23. [v]  declare in the capacity of an umpire or referee; "call a runner out"
24. [v]  challenge (somebody) to make good on a statement; charge with or censure for an offense; "He deserves to be called on that"
25. [v]  require the presentation of for redemption before maturation; "Call a bond"
26. [v]  utter a sudden loud cry; "she cried with pain when the doctor inserted the needle"; "I yelled to her from the window but she couldn't hear me"
27. [v]  make a prediction about; tell in advance; "Call the outcome of an election"
28. [v]  ascribe a quality to or give a name of a common noun that reflects a quality; "He called me a bastard"; "She called her children lazy and ungrateful"
29. [v]  utter a characteristic note or cry; "bluejays called to one another"
30. [v]  assign a specified, proper name to; "They named their son David"; "The new school was named after the famous Civil Rights leader"
31. [v]  send a message or attempt to reach someone by radio, phone, etc.; make a signal to in order to transmit a message; "Hawaii is calling!"; "A transmitter in Samoa was heard calling"
32. [v]  read aloud to check for omissions or absentees; "Call roll"
33. [v]  indicate a decision in regard to (sports); "call balls and strikes behind the plate"
34. [v]  stop or postpone because of adverse conditions, such as bad weather; "call a football game"
35. [v]  give the calls (to the dancers) for a square dance
36. [v]  make a demand in card games, as for a card or a suit or a show of hands; "He called his trump"
37. [v]  demand payment of, as of a loan; "Call a loan"
38. [v]  call a meeting; invite or command to meet; "The Wannsee Conference was called to discuss the `Final Solution'"; "The new dean calls meetings every week"
39. [v]  pay a brief visit; "The mayor likes to call on some of the prominent citizens"
40. [v]  make a stop in a harbour; "The ship will call in Honolulu tomorrow"
41. [v]  greet, as with a prescribed form, title, or name; "He always addresses me with `Sir'"; "Call me Mister"; "She calls him by first name"

Call
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1. \Call\ (k[add]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Called} (k[add]ld);
   p. pr. & vb. n. {Calling}] [OE. callen, AS. ceallian; akin to
   Icel. & Sw. kalla, Dan. kalde, D. kallen to talk, prate, OHG.
   kall[=o]n to call; cf. Gr. ghry`ein to speak, sing, Skr. gar
   to praise. Cf. {Garrulous}.]
   1. To command or request to come or be present; to summon;
      as, to call a servant.
            Call hither Clifford; bid him come amain --Shak.
   2. To summon to the discharge of a particular duty; to
      designate for an office, or employment, especially of a
      religious character; -- often used of a divine summons;
      as, to be called to the ministry; sometimes, to invite;
      as, to call a minister to be the pastor of a church.
            Paul . . . called to be an apostle    --Rom. i. 1.
            The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
            for the work whereunto I have called them. --Acts
                                                  xiii. 2.
   3. To invite or command to meet; to convoke; -- often with
      together; as, the President called Congress together; to
      appoint and summon; as, to call a meeting of the Board of
      Aldermen.
            Now call we our high court of Parliament. --Shak.
   4. To give name to; to name; to address, or speak of, by a
      specifed name.
            If you would but call me Rosalind.    --Shak.
            And God called the light Day, and the darkness he
            called Night.                         --Gen. i. 5.
   5. To regard or characterize as of a certain kind; to
      denominate; to designate.
            What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
                                                  --Acts x. 15.
   6. To state, or estimate, approximately or loosely; to
      characterize without strict regard to fact; as, they call
      the distance ten miles; he called it a full day's work.
            [The] army is called seven hundred thousand men.
                                                  --Brougham.
   7. To show or disclose the class, character, or nationality
      of. [Obs.]
            This speech calls him Spaniard.       --Beau. & Fl.
   8. To utter in a loud or distinct voice; -- often with off;
      as, to call, or call off, the items of an account; to call
      the roll of a military company.
            No parish clerk who calls the psalm so clear. --Gay.
   9. To invoke; to appeal to.
            I call God for a witness.             --2 Cor. i. 23
                                                  [Rev. Ver. ]
   10. To rouse from sleep; to awaken.
             If thou canst awake by four o' the clock. I prithee
             call me. Sleep hath seized me wholly. --Shak.
   {To call a bond}, to give notice that the amount of the bond
      will be paid.
   {To call a party} (Law), to cry aloud his name in open court,
      and command him to come in and perform some duty requiring
      his presence at the time on pain of what may befall him.
   {To call back}, to revoke or retract; to recall; to summon
      back.
   {To call down}, to pray for, as blessing or curses.
   {To call forth}, to bring or summon to action; as, to call
      forth all the faculties of the mind.
   {To call in},
       (a) To collect; as, to call in debts or money; ar to
           withdraw from cirulation; as, to call in uncurrent
           coin.
       (b) To summon to one's side; to invite to come together;
           as, to call in neighbors.
   {To call (any one) names}, to apply contemptuous names (to
      any one).
   {To call off}, to summon away; to divert; as, to call off the
      attention; to call off workmen from their employment.
   {To call out}.
       (a) To summon to fight; to challenge.
       (b) To summon into service; as, to call out the militia.
   {To call over}, to recite separate particulars in order, as a
      roll of names.
   {To call to account}, to demand explanation of.
   {To call to mind}, to recollect; to revive in memory.
   {To call to order}, to request to come to order; as:
       (a) A public meeting, when opening it for business.
       (b) A person, when he is transgressing the rules of
           debate.
   {To call to the bar}, to admit to practice in courts of law.
   {To call up}.
       (a) To bring into view or recollection; as to call up the
           image of deceased friend.
       (b) To bring into action or discussion; to demand the
           consideration of; as, to call up a bill before a
           legislative body.
   Syn: To name; denominate; invite; bid; summon; convoke;
        assemble; collect; exhort; warn; proclaim; invoke;
        appeal to; designate.
   Usage: {To Call}, {Convoke}, {Summon}. Call is the generic
          term; as, to call a public meeting. To convoke is to
          require the assembling of some organized body of men
          by an act of authority; as, the king convoked
          Parliament. To summon is to require attendance by an
          act more or less stringent anthority; as, to summon a
          witness.
   

2. \Call\, v. i.
   1. To speak in loud voice; to cry out; to address by name; --
      sometimes with to.
            You must call to the nurse.           --Shak.
            The angel of God called to Hagar.     --Gen. xxi.
                                                  17.
   2. To make a demand, requirement, or request.
            They called for rooms, and he showed them one.
                                                  --Bunyan.
   3. To make a brief visit; also, to stop at some place
      designated, as for orders.
            He ordered her to call at the house once a week.
                                                  --Temple.
   {To call for}
      (a) To demand; to require; as, a crime calls for
          punishment; a survey, grant, or deed calls for the
          metes and bounds, or the quantity of land, etc., which
          it describes.
      (b) To give an order for; to request. ``Whenever the coach
          stopped, the sailor called for more ale.'' --Marryat.
   {To call on}, {To call upon},
      (a) To make a short visit to; as, call on a friend.
      (b) To appeal to; to invite; to request earnestly; as, to
          call upon a person to make a speech.
      (c) To solicit payment, or make a demand, of a debt.
      (d) To invoke or play to; to worship; as, to call upon
          God.
   {To call out} To call or utter loudly; to brawl.
   

3. \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.
            I rose as at thy call, but found thee not. --Milton.
   2. A signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon
      soldiers or sailors to duty.
   3. (Eccl.) An invitation to take charge of or serve a church
      as its pastor.
   4. A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of
      the case; a moral requirement or appeal.
            Dependence is a perpetual call upon humanity.
                                                  --Addison.
            Running into danger without any call of duty.
                                                  --Macaulay.
   5. A divine vocation or summons.
            St. Paul himself believed he did well, and that he
            had a call to it, when he persecuted the Christians.
                                                  --Locke.
   6. Vocation; employment.
   Note: [In this sense, calling is generally used.]
   7. A short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the
      daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders.
            The baker's punctual call.            --Cowper.
   8. (Hunting) A note blown on the horn to encourage the
      hounds.
   9. (Naut.) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his
      mate, to summon the sailors to duty.
   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.
   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.
   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]
   13. See {Assessment}, 4.
   {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.
   

(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2).

(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex. 31:2; Isa. 22:20; Acts 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Matt. 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).

In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom. 9:24, 25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (John 3:14-19; Matt. 22:14).

An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (John 16:14; Acts 26: 18; John 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (John 6:45; Acts 16:14; Eph. 1:17).