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Office & Administration vocabulary · Phone Calls & Etiquette

Call back

Meaning in office & administration, with examples

phrasal verbCore term

In office & administration, call back means: To phone someone again, or to return a call from someone who tried to phone you earlier.

In Turkish: geri aramak, dönüş yapmak

How it is used

Common on the phone and in messages: "Could you ask him to call me back?", "I'll call you back in ten minutes." The noun is a callback. Return someone's call is a more formal synonym, and get back to someone is also common.

Example sentences

  1. She's on another line at the moment. Can she call you back in half an hour?

  2. Mr Yılmaz called back about the invoice while you were at lunch.

Common collocations

  • call someone back
  • call back later
  • ask someone to call back
  • call back about
  • take a messageTo write down information from a caller for someone who is not available, such as the caller's name, number and reason for calling.
  • voicemailA system that records phone messages when the person you call does not answer; also a message recorded in this way.
  • hang upTo end a phone call by putting the phone down or pressing the button that ends the call.
  • put on holdTo keep a caller waiting on the line for a short time, usually while you check something or find the right person.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Phone Calls & Etiquette

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