becall

becall

English

Etymology

From Middle English bicallen, bikallen, equivalent to be- +‎ call.

Verb

becall (third-person singular simple present becalls, present participle becalling, simple past and past participle becalled)

1. (transitive) To accuse.
   • 1741, Conny Keyber (pseudonym; attributed to Henry Fielding), An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, edited by Sheridan W. Baker, Jr., Berkeley: University of California Press, 1953, Letter 6, p. 27,

     I no sooner see him, but I scream out to Mrs. Jervis, she feigns likewise but just to come to herself; we both begin, she to becall, and I to bescratch very liberally.

   • 1878, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native, Book 1, Chapter 9,

     You must not becall me for laughing when you spoke; you mistook when you thought I laughed at you as a foolish man.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To call upon; call forth; challenge.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To call; summon.
4. (transitive) To call names; insult.

Anagrams

• Cabell