caller

English

Etymology

From Middle English callar, equivalent to call +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːlə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔlɚ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑlɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɔːlə(r)
• Homophone: collar (some accents)
• Rhymes: -ɒlə(ɹ)

Noun

caller (plural callers)

1. (telephony) The person who makes a telephone call.

   - I've got someone on the line.

   - Who's the caller?

2. A visitor.

   a gentleman caller

3. (bingo) The person who stands at the front of the hall and announces the numbers.
4. (programming) A function that calls another (the callee).
5. A whistle or similar item used to call foxes.
6. (dance) The person who directs dancers in certain dances, such as American line dances and square dances.

Derived terms

• caller ID

Translations

the person who makes a telephone call

• Czech: volající (cs)
• Dutch: beller (nl)
• Finnish: soittaja (fi)
• French: téléphoneur (fr) m, appelant (fr) m
• German: Anrufer (de) m

• Hungarian: hívó (hu)
• Kurdish: telefonker (ku) m or f
• Portuguese: chamador (pt) m
• Spanish: llamador (es) m

Anagrams

• cellar, re-call, recall

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Scots

Etymology

Alteration of calver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑlər/

Adjective

caller (comparative mair caller, superlative maist caller)

1. Fresh (of food, especially fish).

   Wha'll buy my caller herrin’, / New drawn frae the Forth? (Caroline Oliphaunt, ‘Caller Herrin'’)

2. Cool.