From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsummonsum‧mon /ˈsʌmən/ ●○○ verb [transitive] formal 1 TELL/ORDER somebody TO DO somethingto order someone to come to a place Robert summoned the waiter for the bill.summon somebody to something The president summoned Taylor to Washington.summon somebody to do something He was summoned to attend an emergency meeting.2 to officially order someone to come to a court of law Hugh was summoned to appear before the magistrate.3 (also summon something up)TRY TO DO OR GET something to try very hard to have enough of something such as courage, energy, or strength, because you need it He had to summon the energy to finish the race.4 → summon a meeting/conference etc → summon up ↔ something→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
summon• She only realised that the meal had ended when Piers summoned across for the bill.• In a few minutes a servant knocked and summoned Gandhi.• The Colonel had summoned him to Cancun for the meeting at the Rena Victoria Hotel.• President Clinton summoned his top White House aides to discuss the crisis.• Jack Kennedy summoning Robert Frost to deliver an inauguration poem and confer a bardic benediction on the new administration.• I finally summoned the courage to ask my father to lend me the car.• Russo saw the fight and summoned the police.• Mrs Field summoned the vet immediately, who said it was in a hopeless condition and should be put down at once.• We summon them down from the highest tree branches.• I've been summoned to appear at Guildford Magistrates Court on June 1st.• He had been summoned to appear before an Officer Selection Board, having put his name forward shortly after joining the Regiment.• At the same time all £50 landowners were summoned to serve without pay.summon somebody to something• Republican leaders were summoned to the White House for a brief meeting.summoned to appear• Quill was summoned to appear before a grand jury, though it found no reason to indict him.• He had been summoned to appear before an Officer Selection Board, having put his name forward shortly after joining the Regiment.• Two days later I was summoned to appear before them.• Three days earlier Chang had been summoned to appear in court in connection with an insider stock trading scandal.Origin summon (1200-1300) Old French somondre, from Latin summonere “to remind secretly”, from sub- “secretly” + monere “to warn” 