Meaning & use
mayday calls
Last updated
“mayday calls” is a form of “mayday call”.
Meaning
nouncountable
Urgent radio messages sent by a ship or aircraft in serious danger, asking for immediate help.
Grammar: Countable; the singular is 'mayday call'. You can say 'a mayday call' or 'mayday calls'.
Patterns
- send a mayday call
- receive a mayday call
- make a mayday call
The coast guard picked up three mayday calls from the sinking trawler.
After the engine failed, the pilot made a mayday call and was rescued within minutes.
Rescuers responded to mayday calls from the yacht during the storm.
Word forms
| singular | mayday call |
|---|
Common combinations
- send a mayday call
- The captain sent a mayday call as the ship began to list.
- pick up a mayday call
- The radio operator picked up a mayday call from a nearby vessel.
- mayday call from
- We received a mayday call from an aircraft over the mountains.
- answer a mayday call
- Another ship answered the mayday call and changed course to help.
Synonyms and how they differ
- distress call
- A more general term for any urgent call for help; 'mayday call' specifically uses the international radio word 'mayday'.
- SOS
- Refers to the Morse code distress signal, not a voice radio call; use 'mayday' for radio.
Word family
- mayday noun
- The international radio word used to signal a life-threatening emergency.
Commonly confused: mayday calls or May Day?
mayday calls vs May Day
May Day (two words) is a spring festival on 1 May; 'mayday' (one word) is the distress signal.
Practice
The sinking ship sent a ___ call to request immediate rescue.
Choose one answer.
'Mayday' is the correct radio word for a life-threatening emergency. 'Pan-pan' is for urgency but not immediate danger, 'SOS' is a Morse code signal, and 'security' is a radio term for safety information.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mayday calls”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.