callout

or call-out

[ kawl-out ]

noun
  1. an act or instance of calling out, or speaking in a loud voice.

  2. an order to report for emergency or special work, especially at an unusual time or place.

  1. a letter, number, or other device for identifying or calling attention to a particular part of an illustration or text.

  2. a challenge to a duel.

verb phrasecall out [kawl-out] /ˈkɔl ˈaʊt/ .
  1. to speak in a loud voice; shout.

  2. to summon into service or action: Call out the militia!

  1. to bring out; elicit: The emergency called out her hidden abilities.

  2. to direct attention to with a callout: to call out each feature in a technical drawing.

  3. to criticize adversely; express disapproval of; censure: Even his fans have called him out on his treatment of women.

  4. to challenge to a duel.

Origin of callout

1
First recorded in 1885–90; defs. 1-4 represent noun uses of verb phrase call out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use callout in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for call out

call out

verb(adverb)
  1. to utter aloud, esp loudly

  2. (tr) to summon

  1. (tr) to order (workers) to strike

  2. (tr) to summon (an employee) to work at a time outside his normal working hours, usually in an emergency

  3. (tr) to challenge to a duel

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with callout

callout

Summon into action or service, as in The governor called out the militia. [Mid-1400s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.