Definition

1. Noun:

   • A person who makes a telephone call: An individual who initiates a phone conversation.
   • A person who convenes a meeting: The individual responsible for organizing and summoning people to a formal gathering.
   • A person who announces dance steps: Someone who directs dancers by calling out the sequence of moves, especially in square dancing or country dancing.
   • A visitor: A person who pays a social or business visit.
   • A person who shouts or summons loudly: Someone who proclaims or calls out in a loud voice.
   • A participant in a card game: In poker, the player who matches the current bet and demands to see the opponents' cards.

2. Adjective:

   • Fresh, cool: (Chiefly Scottish) Describing something that is refreshingly cool, especially air or breeze. Also used to describe fresh fish.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • The anonymous caller refused to give his name.
  • As the meeting's caller, she sent out the invitations.
  • The square dance caller taught us the next move.
  • We had an unexpected caller this afternoon.
  • The callers stood on the street, shouting for their children.
  • He was the caller in that round of poker.

• Adjective:

  • We enjoyed the caller evening air after the rain. (Scottish usage)
  • The fishmonger promised caller herring. (Scottish usage)

Advanced Usage

• "Caller ID": A telephone service that displays the phone number of an incoming call. (Note: This is a compound term listed here as it is a common fixed phrase where "caller" is a key component).
  • I didn't answer because the caller ID showed an unknown number.

Variants and Related Words

• Call (verb/noun): The root word meaning to shout, telephone, or summon.
• Calling (noun): A profession or strong urge toward a particular way of life.

Synonyms

• Noun (Visitor): Guest, visitor.
• Noun (Telephone user): Phoner, telephoner.
• Noun (Convener): Convener, organizer.
• Adjective (Cool): Fresh, cool, brisk. (Note: 'caller' as an adjective is regionally specific to Scotland).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Call on/upon someone: To visit someone briefly.
  • I plan to call on my grandmother this weekend.
• Call for someone: To shout to summon someone.
  • She called for her son to come inside.

Related Idioms

• "The caller of the tune": A variation of "He who pays the piper calls the tune," meaning the person who provides the money for something has the right to decide how it is spent.
  • As the major investor, he is the caller of the tune.

Adjective

1. fresh
   • caller fish
2. providing coolness
   • a cooling breeze
   • `caller' is a Scottish term as in `a caller breeze'

Noun

1. the person initiating a telephone call
   • there were so many callers that he finally disconnected the telephone
2. the person who convenes a meeting
   • who is the caller of this meeting?
3. someone who proclaims or summons in a loud voice
   • the callers were mothers summoning their children home for dinner
4. a person who announces the changes of steps during a dance
   • you need a fiddler and a caller for country dancing
5. the bettor in a card game who matches the bet and calls for a show of hands
6. an investor who buys a call option
7. a social or business visitor
   • the room was a mess because he hadn't expected company