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general::
Phrase(s): Is someone there?
a way of requesting to talk to someone in particular over the telephone. (This is not just a request to find out where someone is. The someone is usually a person’s name.) • Tom: Hello? Mary: Hello. Is Bill there? Tom: No. Can I take a message? • Tom: Hello? Mary: Hello. Is Tom there? Tom: Speaking.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs