calls

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of call.

   My neighbor calls out a greeting whenever I leave for work.

   The committee calls each witness in turn during the hearing.

   Note

   Whether an object follows depends on which meaning is at work. Calls a witness and calls a tune take one, while a bird that calls or a neighbor who calls out needs none. The telephone meaning goes either way, with or without the person named. Its partner the plural noun shares the spelling, but a singular subject in front marks this as the verb.

   She calls her mother every Sunday.

   If he's running late, he calls.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of call.

   The hotline received hundreds of calls within an hour of the announcement.

   She returned all of her missed calls before lunch.

   Note

   One spelling serves both a plural noun and the present-tense verb, so context decides: the hotline's calls are things, while she calls is an action. As a plural it covers every countable use of the noun, including shouts, the cries of birds and other animals, telephone conversations and short social visits. Only the surrounding words tell you which kind of calls are meant.

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