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Glite Dictionary
📢 To shout ⚠️ To criticize publicly 🤺 To challenge
to call out

to call out

9.9
Challenge someone to a duel because of an insult
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɔl aʊt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : retar a duelo
  • If you were to call out someone for a boxing match, who would it be?

One of the biggest moments this year has got to have been Conor McGregor calling out KSI.

Examples

  • He decided to call out his opponent after being insulted during the debate.

  • One of the biggest moments this year has got to have been Conor McGregor calling out KSI.

    True Geordie

  • Do you really think Bradshaw could learn the entire playbook in that short a time to be able to memorize formations and call out plays?

    Blog text (25)

  • In the old duel tradition, a gentleman would call out anyone who dishonored his family name.

  • After the argument, she felt it was necessary to call out her friend for disrespectful behavior.

Synonyms

to throw down the gauntlet
vsto call out
4 7.7

To openly challenge someone in front of others

is a demand for a one on one duel after an insult
to throw down a challenge
vsto call out
  • Informal
1 5.4

Openly invite someone to compete with you

is a demand for a one on one duel rather than general competition

Antonyms

to reconcile
38 5.1

To become friendly again after a disagreement

How Confrontational

to call out
  • Archaic
9.9
to challenge
355 3.0

Surface Forms

call out infinitive
called out past
called out past participle
calling out present participle
calls out third person singular

Morphology

call + out

The sense 'to challenge someone to a duel' is related to the ideas in the constituents — 'call' (summon/utter) plus 'out' (to bring into the open or confront) — but the specific historical/duel meaning is a culturally bound extension not directly predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows both words might infer a general sense of confronting or challenging someone, but not the precise duel-related or historical nuance, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Call out in the historical sense comes from the image of asking someone to call another person out to step outside and fight in a duel. So, it used to mean 'to challenge someone to a duel'.