to call up
- phrasal verb
- /kɔl ʌp/
- It's over and done with, he told himself as he called up his appointments calendar on his desk screen.
- call up a part
Examples
-
Khadaji sat at the keyboard of his computer and called up his communications program.
Fiction book (1991) -
From where I sat, I could see that she had called up detailed images of the slope.
Fiction book (1999) -
Let me just call that up for you.
-
You have to call up whatever information I ask for in a moment.
-
"Sure." John looked at his computer screen and called up the first story in question.
Fiction book (1992) -
As soon as I got home, I called up samples on my computer.
Fiction book (2002) -
Dan had given her access to her computer and could now call up maps of the whole area.
Fiction book (1998) -
I want you to get on a terminal and call up a floor-plan file.
-
General topics outlined in the index can be called up in read-only format, precluding user changes.
Academic text (1995) -
The teacher asked us to call up important facts from our studies for the quiz.
Synonyms
To ask people to say if they are present
Make something available for people to use
To use a resource or supply for a purpose
Find the strength or courage to do something difficult
Antonyms
How Accessible
Surface Forms
Morphology
call + up
The sense 'to make available / retrieve' can be inferred from 'call' in the sense of 'summon' or 'invoke' combined with the particle 'up' meaning 'bring into view' or 'into an active state', so a learner who knows those constituent senses could plausibly guess the meaning. However, the particle meaning is variable across phrasal verbs and the specific uses (recalling a memory, displaying a file, mobilizing resources) are somewhat lexicalized and context-dependent, so the relation is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Call up (make available) comes from the picture of asking for a file or resource and having it brought 'up' on a screen or table; that is why it means 'to open or make something available for use'.