duty calls
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
One must attend to their responsibilities or obligations.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
phải thực hiện trách nhiệm hoặc nghĩa vụ của mình
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a call to fulfill one's duty
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I was having fun, but duty calls and I have to go to work.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “duty calls” mean?
One must attend to their responsibilities or obligations. Literally: a call to fulfill one's duty
Is “duty calls” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.