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sick call
noun
: a scheduled time at which individuals (such as soldiers) may report as sick to the medical officer
Examples of sick call in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
By the end of the shutdown on Jan. 25, 2019, sick calls by TSA workers resulted in long lines at airports across the country.
—Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 20 Sep. 2023
On Super Bowl Sunday, according to the survey’s estimates, about 17.2 million employees were expected to get out of work, fake a sick call or skip out on a Sunday night shift in order to watch the game.
—Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2023
As with other medical concerns, people in custody at the facility can sign up for sick call to be seen and treated by the detention center’s medical staff.
—Kate Morrissey, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Mar. 2022
The wave of sick call-outs has also led to jammed Covid benefits lines.
—NBC News, 14 Jan. 2022
Another rule requires staff to respond to sick call requests within 24 hours of the request.
—Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 30 Oct. 2021
However, there were other issues uncovered at the facility, including lack of sick call documentation and inconsistency with Covid-19 guidelines.
—Geneva Sands, CNN, 19 July 2021
The most recent report found that in some cases the registered nurse at the Adams facility was not noting the disposition of the detainee sick call visit and that the medical unit was not documenting follow-up on detainee laboratory test results.
—Geneva Sands, CNN, 19 July 2021
Prisoners’ requests to be seen by the medical team, known as sick call slips, weren’t being collected, the lawyers wrote on Oct. 30.
—New York Times, 27 Feb. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sick call.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1836, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near sick call
Cite this Entry
“Sick call.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sick%20call. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Medical Definition
sick call
noun
: a scheduled time at which individuals (as soldiers) may report as sick to a medical officer
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