call on — draw upon (resources, qualities, or skills)
To make use of a particular resource, quality, or skill, especially when it is needed to deal with a situation.
Say it like a native
Textbook She utilised all of her experience to handle the crisis.
Native She called on all her experience to handle it.
'Call on (your skills/experience)' is the natural verb for drawing on a resource; 'utilised' is corporate.
Pattern: call on sb/sth (to do sth) | call on sth
In use
- In times of crisis, leaders must call on their experience and resilience to guide their teams.abstract
- When facing unexpected challenges, individuals often need to call on their creativity and adaptability to find effective solutions.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He called on to his years of training.
✓ He called on his years of training.
'Call on' takes the object directly — no 'to'.
Common collocations
call on + resource— experience, your reserves, expertise, courage
Don't confuse it
Unlike the B1 sense ('ask someone to speak or act'), this sense is figurative and refers to using a resource or ability, not requesting a person to do something. It is also different from the B2 sense ('visit briefly'), as it does not involve physically going somewhere.
Related
- call on (ask someone to speak or act) — 'call on' also has the more basic meaning 'ask someone to speak or act'; this is the advanced sense.