Meaning & use
collect call
A telephone call in which the person receiving it agrees to pay the charges instead of the caller.
See it in a sentence
Stranded without cash, he made a collect call to his parents from the airport.
Prisoners often rely on collect calls to speak with their family members.
A note on using this word
Collect calls were common before mobile phones became widespread and are now largely associated with landlines and prison phone systems.
Words with a similar meaning
This term is best learned through its definition and examples.
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “collect call”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.