call back

1. 1.

   cause to be returned

   “recall the defective auto tires”

   “The manufacturer tried to call back the spoilt yoghurt”

   Synonymsrecallcall inwithdraw

   Broadertake

   Narrowerdecommission
2. 2.

   recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection

   “I can't remember saying any such thing”

   “I can't think what her last name was”

   “can you remember her phone number?”

   “Do you remember that he once loved you?”

   “call up memories”

   Synonymsrememberretrieverecallcall uprecollectthink

   Narrowerknowrecognizereview
3. 3.

   return or repeat a telephone call

   “I am busy right now--can you call back in an hour?”

   “She left a message but the contractor never called back”

   Broaderanswer
4. 4.

   summon to return

   “The ambassador was recalled to his country”

   “The company called back many of the workers it had laid off during the recession”

   Synonymsrecall

   Broadercall

Questions about call back

What does call back mean?

call back means "cause to be returned". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for call back?

Close synonyms include recall, call in, withdraw, remember, retrieve. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is call back a common word?

call back is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.