distress call
42
3.9
- noun
- /dɪˈstrɛs kɔl/
- Specialized
:
llamada de socorro
- "Just before 3 a.m., the Ranger's first mate transmitted a distress call: "Mayday, Mayday."
Examples
-
We've picked up a distress call.
-
We're picking up a distress call from the Amargosa Observatory, sir.
Fiction book (1994) -
A distress call went out to his Secret Service detail.
-
The distress call had been without visual contact.
Fiction book (1992) -
Protocol says we make a distress call, right?
-
When I was in uniform I responded to a distress call here.
-
We just got a distress call from a rig due west of us.
-
Picking up a distress call from the cruise ship Rachel.
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Vesta IX, we're responding to your distress call.
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The ship's crew sent a distress call after they were caught in a severe storm.
Synonyms
70
6.7
A radio call that people use worldwide to ask for urgent help from ships or aircraft
37
3.1
A signal sent by a ship, plane, or person asking for emergency help
1
3.2
Ways to send important information during a crisis to keep people safe
A sign or action that shows you need help in an emergency, like waving arms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an urgent signal requesting assistance' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'distress' (danger/suffering) with 'call' (a signal or request). This straightforward noun+noun composition and similar constructions in other languages make the term immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Distress call comes from older ships and planes that used special radio signals like 'SOS' or the shout 'Mayday' to ask for help when in danger. The word distress means trouble and call is a request, so the phrase now means a message sent to ask for urgent 'help'.