roll call

noun

1. the calling of a list of names, as of soldiers or students, for checking attendance.

2. a military signal for this, as one given by a drum.

3. a voting process, especially in the U.S. Congress, in which legislators are called on by name and allowed either to cast their vote or to abstain.

roll call

noun

1. the reading aloud of an official list of names, those present responding when their names are read out

2. the time or signal for such a reading

Word History and Origins

Origin of roll call¹

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

Senate to urge streaming companies to begin offering customers the privately funded television service, which has provided nonpartisan gavel-to-gavel television coverage of congressional hearings and roll call votes for decades.

From Los Angeles Times

Government systems can fast-track billion-dollar projects, but until this much more affordable priority gets that kind of attention, the rules are just ink on paper, and the roll call of the dead just grows longer.

From Los Angeles Times

Even if he were right, though, the rapid-fire historical roll call of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” deserves our respect as a crucial artifact of a pre-internet America.

From Los Angeles Times

At morning roll call, the prisoners could not see one another, but they could hear each person state their full name and home village.

From BBC

Many Southern California high school football programs have distinguished roll calls when it comes to alumni who have made it to the NFL, but one of those schools achieved something remarkable Thursday night.

From Los Angeles Times