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Business English vocabulary · Phone and Video Calls

Call back

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌkɔːl ˈbæk/phrasal verbCore term

In business english, call back means: To phone someone who called you earlier, or to phone someone again later.

In Turkish: geri aramak, tekrar aramak

How it is used

Very common on the phone and in messages: 'Could you call me back?', 'I'll call you back in five minutes'. The noun is 'callback'. 'Return someone's call' is a more formal alternative.

Example sentences

  1. I'm in a meeting right now. Can I call you back after three?

  2. Mr Demir asked if you could call him back about the delivery.

Common collocations

  • call someone back
  • call back later
  • call you right back
  • ask someone to call back
  • take a messageTo write down what a caller wants to say to someone who is not available, so that you can pass it on later.
  • voicemailA system that records phone messages when the person you call does not answer; also a single recorded message.
  • hang upTo end a phone call by pressing a button or putting the phone down; on video calls, to leave the call.
  • get back toTo contact someone again later, usually to give them an answer or information that you do not have yet.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Phone and Video Calls

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