Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to call 911

to call 911

178 1.6
Phone 911 in the United States and Canada to get immediate help from police, fire, or ambulance
  • phrasal verb
  • /kɔl naɪn wʌn/
  • US
translation icon : llamar al 911
  • In an emergency, always remember to call 911 for immediate help.
  • call 911 immediately
  • call 911 in an emergency
  • call 911 for an ambulance

Examples

  • Report suspicious activity and then call 911 for immediate response.

    Tina and Lori (2021)

  • If anyone called 911, they'd be here by now.

    Fall (2022)

  • I need somebody to call 911 for me please!

    Alex Cross (2012)

  • -We got to call 911.

    Play Dirty (2025)

  • I gotta get in there, get that phone, and we'll call 911.

    A Town Full of Ghosts (2022)

  • "Should I call 911?" were racing through my head, but I could not move.

    Academic text (1994)

  • All he had to do was call 911 and yell for help.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • If I'm not back by five, call 911 and give them my description.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Why didn't you call 911?

    Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2024)

  • You know you should call 911, and they'll take him whether he wants to go or not.

    Fiction book (1997)

Synonyms

to dial 911
vsto call 911
  • US
28 2.0

To call emergency help in the United States by phone using the number 911

involves telephoning for immediate help without focusing on entering a number

How Urgent

to call 911
  • US
178 1.6
to see a doctor
146 1.8
to wait on
  • US
83 3.9

Surface Forms

call 911 infinitive
called 911 past
called 911 past participle
calling 911 present participle
calls 911 third person singular

Morphology

call + 911

The meaning is directly compositional: 'call' (to telephone) combined with '911' (the emergency telephone number) yields 'telephone the emergency services.' A B1 learner who knows that '911' denotes an emergency number will therefore be able to derive the MWE meaning immediately, though the specific number is culturally specific to the US/Canada and learners from other countries may need to learn that mapping.

Etymology

The phrase call 911 comes from the three-digit emergency number 911 used in the United States and Canada. When someone is in real danger you call that number to get police, firefighters, or an ambulance right away, so the phrase means 'to telephone the emergency services'.