calling card
Americannoun
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Also called card, visiting card. a small card with the name and often the address of a person or of a couple, for presenting when making a business or social call, for enclosing in gifts, etc.
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Informal. any mark, sign, trace, characteristic, or the like by which someone or something can be recognized.
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Also called phone card. a prepaid card or charge card that can be used to make a telephone call at home or away from home.
noun
Etymology
Origin of calling card
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His calling card: He added a dose of mirth to the sober ministerings of a profession not known for its sense of humor or rhetorical skills.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Volatility has been silver’s calling card in recent months but even by recent standards the last week has been a roller-coaster ride.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 13, 2026
The Dead’s graphic symbols, including “dancing” bears, the “Stealie” lightning skull and instrument-wielding terrapins, were plastered across innumerable merchandise and became a calling card of hippie-influenced counterculture over the ensuing decades.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2026
This is in keeping with the show’s calling card of marrying high and low culinary traditions, transforming the concept of upscale into a state of mind.
From Salon • Oct. 25, 2025
She shooed him away, but not before he left a calling card.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
