beck and call
Ready to serve
To be at someone's beck and call is to be ready to respond immediately to their every summons or request.
The phrase suggests subservience—being constantly available to do another's bidding: She expected her assistant to be at her beck and call twenty-four hours a day.
Beck is an archaic word for a beckoning gesture, surviving only in this expression.
- summonCall to appear
- biddingOffering prices or obeying
- under one's thumbDominated by another
- whip handDominant controlling position
- availabilityState of being obtainable
order · yes sir · jump to it · command · subservience · servant's quarters · obedient · doormat · serve · wait · hand and foot · lackey · alacrity · whim · docility · dutiful · yes-man · fetch and carry
beck and callindependent
Free from external control
autonomous · self-directed · free · self-governing · unbound
beck and callin charge
Having authority over
calling the shots · in the driver's seat · holding the reins · master · dominant
beck and callunavailable
Cannot be accessed
unreachable · inaccessible · unresponsive · out of reach · off the grid
call, recall, calling, called, calls, caller, beckon, recalled, recalling