English · Idiom Historical

a call-boy

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A boy employed in theatres to "call" or summon actors, when it is time for them to make their appearance on the stage.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một cậu bé được thuê ở nhà hát để gọi hoặc triệu tập diễn viên khi đến lúc họ xuất hiện trên sân khấu

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “a call-boy” mean?

A boy employed in theatres to "call" or summon actors, when it is time for them to make their appearance on the stage.

Is “a call-boy” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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