Game jargon – Call of Duty

Have you ever been in a Call of Duty match and heard some terminology you don’t know the meaning of?

In this guide, we share some of the most common terms or phrases used across all of the Call of Duty games, and what they mean.

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ADS:

‘Aim Down Sights’ – which means that you hold the aim button whilst using a weapon.

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Attachment:

Something that you can add to a weapon to change its performance stats. Players normally opt for using attachments, so it’s rare to find weapons without them in PVP.

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Beam:

Refers to when a weapon has high accuracy and damage when used.

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Buy Station:

A place where you can purchase abilities or items. You can get revives, killstreaks, armour plates, and other loadouts from the station. This is only found in Warzone and Vanguard.

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Clan:

When a group of players use the same ‘Clan’ or team tag to show they are part of the same party.

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Collateral:

When you kill two enemies with one bullet. Sniper rifles are usually the only weapons that can do this.

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Downed:

Used when you take an enemy to the ground and force them to use a self-revive kit, or get a teammate to revive them. In this state, the player will steadily lose health until they bleed out, but this can be prevented by being revived.

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DMZ:

An extraction game mode in Warzone 2.0 where you have to battle both NPCs and other players to complete your objective.

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Fake defuse:

Pretending to defuse a bomb to try and draw out any hiding enemies.

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Field upgrade:

A piece of equipment or an ability that will give you some form of advantage.

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Finishing moves:

To perform a melee attack to kill an unsuspecting enemy.

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Frag:

Can be one of two things:

• A colloquial way of saying that you got a kill
• Referring to a frag grenade

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Hill:

The capture point that a team must hold in order to earn points in Hardpoint matches.

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Hipfire:

Firing a weapon without aiming down the sights. This can also be called ‘no-scope’.

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Killstreak:

When you earn a certain number of kills without dying, you can receive a killstreak reward. You can also find killstreaks dotted around as loot, or purchase them at a buy station.

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Lit:

Normally called out to say that an enemy has taken damage.

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Loadout:

The equipment and weapons a player will go into a game with.

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Melt:

A powerful weapon that can easily kill an opponent when used.

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Mounting:

When you place a weapon on a surface to increase its stability.

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One-shot:

A callout for when a player only needs to take one more shot to die.

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Ping:

If you are near a specific item, part of the map, or can see an enemy, you can ping the location of the item or place for your teammates to see. A prompt will appear on your screen when you can ping (or show) the location of something.

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Prestige:

When a player has reached the maximum Military Rank, the prestige system allows them to earn more rewards as they continue to play.

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S&D:

Abbreviation for the Search and Destroy game mode.

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Tagged:

A player who is damaged.

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Supply boxes:

Boxes dotted around the map that may contain loadouts over different qualities.

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These are just some of the many things you may hear in a game of Call of Duty, but there are many more things to learn as you go through your matches. 

You can also check out some of our other Game Jargon guides for Overwatch, Valorant, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, and Rocket League on our website.

Want us to do a specific guide for a game? Let us know on the British Esports Twitter, and we may use your idea in the future.