Outcalled

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. To have surpassed another in calling out or announcing something
2. To have exceeded someone in vocal expression or public address
3. To have called attention more effectively than another in a particular situation

Etymology: "Outcalled" is the past tense and past participle of "outcall," which means to have surpassed another in calling out or announcing something. The verb is built from "out" and "call," both of them plain English words with long pedigrees. "Out" descends from Old English "ūt," and "call" comes from Old English "ceallian," which in turn traces back to a Proto-West Germanic root. Joining "out" to "call" produces a word that describes winning a contest of loud voices, a meaning that the parts convey directly. The word follows the same pattern as many English verbs formed by attaching "out-" to an existing verb to mean "to do something better than someone else," as in "outrun" or "outsing." Because the construction is transparent, the word needs little explanation beyond its parts.

Synonyms: outshouted, outvoted, overshadowed, overcalled

Antonyms: undercalled, silenced