caller

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːlə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔlɚ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑlɚ/
• Homophone: collar (cot–caught merger)
• Rhymes: -ɔːlə(ɹ)

Noun

caller (plural callers)

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

   Coordinate term: callee

   ―I’ve got someone on the line.
   ―Who’s the caller?

   • 2023 February 16, WCCO Staff, “Julissa Thaler sentenced to life in prison for murdering 6-year-old son, Eli Hart”, in cbsnews.com‎:

     Thaler was arrested in Orono last May when a caller reported that the car she was driving had a shattered rear window and a blown-out tire.

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).

   If the called function throws an exception, the caller should be prepared to handle the error.

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

• birdcaller
• caller ID
• chart caller
• cold caller
• cop-caller
• crank caller
• fox caller
• hog caller
• name-caller
• nuisance caller
• robocaller
• shot caller

 

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: Northern Kurdish: telefonker (ku) m or f Polish: dzwoniący Portuguese: chamador (pt) m Russian: звонящий (ru) (zvonjaščij) Spanish: llamador (es) m

Anagrams

• cellar, re-call, recall

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English calver (“interspersed with flakes”), from Old English calwer. Cognate with English 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.