call (one) on (something)

call (one) on (something)

1. To call one using a phone or other particular device or platform. My grandmother always calls me on the phone on my birthday. Try calling him on the landline.
2. To challenge one to prove that one's claims or boasts are true. He insisted that he could run faster than me, but when I called him on it, he suddenly had to go home. The moderator finally called the candidate on her misleading statements.
3. To confront one about one's misdeeds or unpleasant behavior. If your intern keeps coming in late, you need to call her on it.
See also: call, on
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

call (up)on someone (to do something)

to choose someone to do something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) I call upon all of you to make your feelings known to your elected representatives. I called on George for his help, but he refused.
See also: call, on

call (up)on someone

 
1. to visit someone. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) My mother's friends call upon her every Wednesday. Let's call on Mrs. Franklin this afternoon.
2. to choose someone to respond, as in a classroom. The teacher called upon me, but I was not ready to recite. Please don't call on me. I can't remember a thing.
See also: call, on

call on someone

to court someone. Jim's calling on the new cook over at the Browns'. In the old days, a boy had to ask a girl's father for permission to come call on her.
See also: call, on

call on something

Fig. to draw on something, such as a particular quality or talent. This project calls on all the creative skills you can gather together. It calls on everything you've got.
See also: call, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

call on

Also, call upon.
1. Make a request, ask for, choose, as in We are calling upon you to run for chairman, or The teacher called on Joe to answer. [c. 1400]
2. Pay a brief visit, as in The salesman said he'd call on me in the morning. Shakespeare had this usage in Antony and Cleopatra (1:4): "I'll call upon you ere you go to bed." [Late 1500s]
See also: call, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

call on

v.
1. To select or request someone to undertake a particular activity: The teacher always calls on the students in the back row to answer questions.
2. To make use of some resource; draw on something: I called on all my strength to lift the rock that had fallen on my foot.
3. To visit someone: I called on my neighbors last night and returned a book I had borrowed.
4. To challenge someone on the truth or accuracy of something that has been said: When the magician boasted that he could juggle blindfolded, we called him on it, and he was forced to admit he was lying.
5. To tell someone that one has noticed that he or she has done something wrong: When I called her on her bad behavior, she apologized and said that it would not happen again.
See also: call, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • call on
  • on the phone
  • be a great one for (doing something)
  • be a great one for something/for doing something
  • get on the phone
  • be on the phone
  • be on the telephone/phone
  • want (something) like (one wants) a hole in the head
  • have the wrong number
  • mail (something) to (one)