beck and call

English

Alternative forms

• beckon call (eggcorn misspelling)

Noun

beck and call (uncountable)

1. Summons and control, in a position of servitude or as an attendant.

   At his beck and call, he had a small fleet of waiters and servants.

   • 1942 May-June, “Notes and News: L.N.E.R. Traffic Regulating Office”, in Railway Magazine, page 187:

     The Traffic Regulating Officer thus has at his beck and call the assistance which he requires in deciding the extent to which restrictions on the acceptance and despatch of traffic are necessary.

Usage notes

• Almost always found as a prepositional phrasing "at one's beck and call"

Translations

summons and control, in a position as an attendant or servant

• Danish: hoppe og springe for en, stå på pinde for en
• Dutch: iemand op zijn wenken bedienen
• Finnish: käsky (fi) (e.g. elative)
• German: (freie) Verfügung m
• Hungarian: egyetlen szavára/füttyentésére, (to be at someone's ~) rendelkezésére/szolgálatára áll, lesi minden kívánságát
• Polish: na skinienie
• Portuguese: à disposição
• Russian: на побегу́шках (na pobegúškax)

See also

• under one's thumb
• wrap around one's little finger

References

• “at someone’s beck and call”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.