to call on
41
3.1
- phrasal verb
- /kɔl ɑn/
:
visitar
- I wanted to call on you before leaving the city.
Examples
-
I may call on you before long.
-
Carolyn says that she is going to call on students to read their sentences.
Academic text (2014) -
Sorry to call on you so late in the evening... but we did have a previous engagement.
-
You're the very first person to call on me since our return.
-
When they part, and she invites him to call on her a few days later, he accepts.
Fiction book (1999) -
"Don't hesitate to call on me again if I can be of any further assistance."
Fiction book (1991) -
Don't hesitate to call on me anytime I can be of help.
-
Frequently isolated from other music teachers, beginning teachers often call on their previous mentors for advice and support.
Academic text (2006) -
The stunned teacher doesn't answer and goes to call on the next student.
Fiction book (1999) -
I may call on you before long to discuss the project.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To go to see a person or place, usually for a short time
50
2.3
To go to someone's home or another place for a short time
1
2.8
Pay a short, often unplanned visit to someone
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to challenge or ask someone to explain/take responsibility' is partly related to the idea of 'call' as summoning or requesting and 'on' as directed toward someone, so a learner may get a general sense of addressing or asking someone. However, the specific pragmatic nuance of demanding justification or holding someone accountable is an extended, discourse-level meaning not directly predictable from the literal constituents without prior exposure.
Etymology
Call on may come from the simple image of call and on: you call someone's name at their door and they come to meet you for a short visit. So, it means 'to visit someone, usually briefly'.