Call

n.
  1. The act of calling; -- usually with the voice, but often otherwise, as by signs, the sound of some instrument, or by writing; a summons; an entreaty; an invitation; as, a call for help; the bugle's call.
  2. A signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon soldiers or sailors to duty.
  3. (Eccl.) An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
  4. A requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of the case; a moral requirement or appeal.
  5. A divine vocation or summons.
  6. Vocation; employment.
  7. A short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders.
  8. (Hunting) A note blown on the horn to encourage the hounds.
  9. (Naut.) A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate, to summon the sailors to duty.
  10. (Fowling) The cry of a bird; also a noise or cry in imitation of a bird; or a pipe to call birds by imitating their note or cry.
  11. (Amer. Land Law) A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.
  12. The privilege to demand the delivery of stock, grain, or any commodity, at a fixed, price, at or within a certain time agreed on.
  13. See Assessment, 4.
    14. At call, or On call ,
    liable to be demanded at any moment without previous notice; as money on deposit.
    Call bird ,
    a bird taught to allure others into a snare.
    Call boy
    1. A boy who calls the actors in a theater; a boy who transmits the orders of the captain of a vessel to the engineer, helmsman, etc.
    2. A waiting boy who answers a cal, or cames at the ringing of a bell; a bell boy.
    Call note ,
    the note naturally used by the male bird to call the female. It is artificially applied by birdcatchers as a decoy.
    Call of the house (Legislative Bodies),
    a calling over the names of members, to discover who is absent, or for other purposes; a calling of names with a view to obtaining the ayes and noes from the persons named.
    Call to the bar ,
    admission to practice in the courts.