English

Noun

nuisance call ‎(plural nuisance calls)

1. An unsolicited, annoying telephone call, such as one originating from a telemarketer, robocaller, or prankster or one that is obscene, harassing, misdialed, or senseless.
   • 1990 August 15, Maurice D. Wozniak, "Murder-suicide unexplained," Milwaukee Journal, p. A12 (retrieved 29 Dec 2015):

     He was convicted in Monroe County Circuit Court in 1988 of making nuisance calls to Bernett in the early morning. During the calls, traced to his phone, he would either say nothing or curse.

   • 1996 June 2, Steve Vogel, "Poor areas wait longer for hard-pressed D.C. police," Washington Post (retrieved 29 Dec 2015):

     "You often find the most nuisance calls in crime-ridden areas, because the citizens are in fear. So they'll call the police for ridiculous things."

   • 2004 August 11, Catherine Nixey, "Victim support in the playground," Independent (UK) (retrieved 29 Dec 2015):

     [M]any mobile phone companies have nuisance call hotlines, to which you can report a bully's phone number.

   • 2015 June 9, Tom Parry, "Survivors' guide to cold call plague: How to deal with unwanted nuisance calls and texts," Mirror (UK) (retrieved 29 Dec 2015):

     Richard Lloyd adds: “People are sick of being bombarded with nuisance calls that invade their privacy and waste their time.”

Hyponyms

• crank call
• hang-up call

Derived terms

• nuisance caller

See also

• cold call