Phrase guide

call center

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A communications facility where phone calls are handled; especially, a commercial one for customer service, sales and telemarketing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, communications, electrical-engineering, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, telecommunications, telephony

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: contact center

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a center equipped to handle a large volume of telephone calls (especially for taking orders or serving customers)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: call centre

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: center, centre

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: кол център (kol centǎr) — business location for calls
  • Bulgarian: телефонен център (telefonen centǎr) — business location for calls
  • Chinese Mandarin: 呼叫中心 (hūjiào zhōngxīn) — business location for calls
  • Dutch: callcenter — business location for calls
  • Finnish: puhelinpalvelukeskus — business location for calls
  • French: centre d'appels — business location for calls
  • German: Callcenter — business location for calls
  • Greek: κέντρο κλήσεων (kéntro klíseon) — business location for calls
  • Japanese: コールセンター (kōrusentā) — business location for calls
  • Polish: call center — business location for calls
  • Polish: biuro obsługi klienta — business location for calls
  • Russian: колл-це́нтр (koll-céntr) — business location for calls
  • Russian: телефо́нный центр (telefónnyj centr) — business location for calls
  • Spanish: centro de llamadas — business location for calls
  • Swedish: teletjänstcentral — business location for calls
  • Swedish: callcenter — business location for calls