SUMMON

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does summon mean? 

• SUMMON (verb)
  The verb SUMMON has 5 senses:

1. call in an official matter, such as to attend court

2. ask to come

3. cause to become available for use, either literally or figuratively

4. gather or bring together

5. make ready for action or use

  Familiarity information: SUMMON used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUMMON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they summon    ... he / she / it summons   
Past simple: summoned   
Past participle: summoned   
-ing form: summoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Call in an official matter, such as to attend court

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

cite; summon; summons

Hypernyms (to "summon" is one way to...):

call; send for (order, request, or command to come)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "summon"):

vouch (summon (a vouchee) into court to warrant or defend a title)

demand (summon to court)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ask to come

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

summon a lawyer

Hypernyms (to "summon" is one way to...):

call; send for (order, request, or command to come)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "summon"):

page (contact, as with a pager or by calling somebody's name over a P.A. system)

buzz (call with a buzzer)

convene; convoke (call together)

beckon (summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

summoning (calling up supposed supernatural forces by spells and incantations)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to become available for use, either literally or figuratively

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

call up; summon

Context example:

running into an old friend summoned up memories of her childhood

Hypernyms (to "summon" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "summon"):

arouse; bring up; call down; call forth; conjure; conjure up; evoke; invoke; put forward; raise; stir (summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Gather or bring together

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

come up; muster; muster up; rally; summon

Context example:

Summon all your courage

Hypernyms (to "summon" is one way to...):

collect; garner; gather; pull together (assemble or get together)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make ready for action or use

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

marshal; mobilise; mobilize; summon

Context example:

marshal resources

Hypernyms (to "summon" is one way to...):

collect; garner; gather; pull together (assemble or get together)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

But, Jane, I summon you as my wife: it is you only I intend to marry.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

So the soldier was summoned and entered the Throne Room timidly, for while Oz was alive he never was allowed to come farther than the door.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He had finally summoned the courage to descend.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

At this moment, none, answered the soldier; you can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The pleasanter face which had replaced his, on the occasion of my last visit, answered to our summons, and went before us to the drawing-room.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The two Siwashes put crosses opposite their signatures, received a summons to appear on the morrow with all their tribe for a further witnessing of things, and were allowed to go.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The summons was a brief and urgent one.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Kindly summon your men, and I will try.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Rushworth, shall we summon a council on this lawn?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Am summoned to see my father, who is worse. Am writing.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)