call to arms

noun

1. a command to report for active military duty.

Word History and Origins

Origin of call to arms¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

It was a call to arms, a campaign strategy session, and—above all—an honest-to-God old-fashioned Pentecostal tent revival.

From Slate

But over the past several decades, he has become most well known for resurrecting a niche, ’70s-era Christian call to arms: a mandate for believers to conquer the “seven mountains of society”—family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.

From Slate

The multi-hyphenate calls her directorial debut for the HBO series ‘a call to arms for authenticity.’

From Los Angeles Times

“Climate anxiety can’t be limited to just a clinical setting — we have to take it out of the therapy room and look at it through a lens of privilege, and power, and the economic, historical and social structures that are at the root of the problem,” said Sarah Jaquette Ray, whose book “A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety” is a call to arms to think more expansively about our despair.

From Los Angeles Times

The speeches, music, and non-stop dance party feel interspersed with serious ideas and memorable messages – from Michele Obama’s powerful call to arms to the wild state-by-state, song-by-song roll call – demonstrate that modern conventions aren’t dead.

From Salon