Definition of call

1. option to buy (or call) an asset at a specified price within a specified period.
2. right to buy 100 shares of stock at a specified price within a specified period.See also option.
3. process of redeeming a bond or preferred stock issue before its normal maturity. A security with a call provision typically is issued at an interest rate higher than one without a call provision. This is because investors demand it-they look at yield-to-call rather than yield-to-maturity.

1. lender's demand for early payment of a loan, because the borrower has failed to meet contractual commitments such as maintaining adequate insurance or making timely payments; or, in a demand loan, the lender's exercise of his right to ask for repayment in full at any time.
2. comptroller's call issued to national bank by the comptroller of the currency, to file a call report or Report of Condition.
3. regulatory agency's order to a distressed bank to raise more capital, sometimes referred to as a capital call.
4. broker's demand for additional margin or collateral when the value of customer's pledged collateral falls below a stated value, known as a margin call.
5. redemption privilege exercised by a bond issuer, as permitted in the indenture agreement of a mortgage backed bond or issue of asset-backed securities. It permits the issuer to retire the bonds if only a small portion of the issue is outstanding, in order to keep servicing costs from becoming unreasonable. Also called nuisance call.

Banking: demand to repay a secured loan. When a banker calls a loan, the entire principal amount is due immediately.
Bonds: right to redeem outstanding bonds before their scheduled maturity. The first dates when an issuer may call bonds are specified in the prospectus of every issue that has a call provision in its indenture. See also callable; call feature; call price.
Options: right to buy a specific number of shares at a specified price by a fixed date. See also call option.

1. a statement in FORTRAN, PL/I, some versions of BASIC, and most assembly languages, which transfers control of execution to a subprogram. When the subprogram ends, the main program resumes with the statement immediately after the CALL. Languages such as C, Pascal, and Java perform calls by simply giving the name of the routine to be called. In line-numbered BASIC, subroutines are called with the GOSUB command.
2. computer-aided language learning, the teaching of foreign languages to people with the aid of a computer.

Banking: demand to repay a secured loan usually made when the borrower has failed to meet such contractual obligations as timely payment of interest. When a banker calls a loan, the entire principal amount is due immediately. See also broker loan rate.
Bonds: right to redeem outstanding bonds before their scheduled maturity. The first dates when an issuer may call bonds are specified in the prospectus of every issue that has a call provision in its indenture. See also callable; call price.
Options: right to buy a specific number of shares at a specified price by a fixed date. See also call option.