call \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. "call of the trumpet."
      --shak.
      1913 webster

            i rose as at thy call, but found thee not. --milton.
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   2. a signal, as on a drum, bugle, trumpet, or pipe, to summon
      soldiers or sailors to duty.
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   3. eccl. an invitation to take charge of or serve a church
      as its pastor.
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   4. a requirement or appeal arising from the circumstances of
      the case; a moral requirement or appeal.
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            dependence is a perpetual call upon humanity.
                                                  --addison.
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            running into danger without any call of duty.
                                                  --macaulay.
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   5. a divine vocation or summons.
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            st. paul himself believed he did well, and that he
            had a call to it, when he persecuted the christians.
                                                  --locke.
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   6. vocation; employment.

   note: in this sense, calling is generally used.
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   7. a short visit; as, to make a call on a neighbor; also, the
      daily coming of a tradesman to solicit orders.
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            the baker's punctual call.            --cowper.
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   8. hunting a note blown on the horn to encourage the
      hounds.
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   9. naut. a whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his
      mate, to summon the sailors to duty.
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   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.
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   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.
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   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. brokers' cant
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   13. see assessment, 4.
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   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
       a 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.
       b 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. --latham.

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
assessment at call on call call bird call boy call note 
call of the house call to the bar