robocall
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Noun
[edit]robocall (plural robocalls)
- (US) An automated phone call, commonly for telemarketing purposes, that uses both an autodialer and a recorded message.
- 2006 November 6, Frank James, “GOP 'robocalls' enrage Democrats”, in Chicago Tribune[1]:
- The e-mailers are upset about “robocalls”—pre-recorded, automated phone calls containing anti-Democratic political messages.
- 2016 January 13, Ben Jacobs, “Ron Paul criticizes Cruz's absence from Fed vote in support of son's campaign”, in The Guardian[2]:
- Rand Paul’s presidential campaign has drafted in his father, libertarian icon Ron Paul, to directly attack Republican rival Ted Cruz in a robocall in Iowa, the first time the former presidential candidate has gone on the offensive on his son’s behalf.
- 2019 March 1, Gail Collins, “Let’s Destroy Robocalls”, in New York Times[3]:
- Things are at least as bad on mobile phones, which were the lucky recipients of 48 billion robocalls in the United States alone last year.
Translations
[edit]automated telemarketing phone call
Verb
[edit]robocall (third-person singular simple present robocalls, present participle robocalling, simple past and past participle robocalled)
- (transitive) To make a robocall to.
- 2007, Jackson Thoreau, Born to Cheat: How Bush, Cheney, Rove & Co. Broke the Rules—from the Sandlot to the White House[4], page 197:
- Republicans robo-called Americans during their dinner and evening hours, blaming the annoying calls on Democrats.