The variable phase approach to potential scattering with regular spherically symmetric potentials satisfying (1), and studied by Calogero in his book 5 , is revisited, and we show directly that it gives the absolute definition of the phase-shifts, i.e. the one which defines δ ℓ (k) as a continuous function of k for all k ≥ 0, up to infinity, where δ ℓ (∞) = 0 is automatically satisfied. This removes the usual ambiguity ±nπ, n integer, attached to the definition of the phase-shifts through the partial wave scattering amplitudes obtained from the Lippmann-Schwinger integral equation, or via the phase of the Jost functions.It is then shown rigorously, and also on several examples, that this definition of the phase-shifts is very general, and applies as well to all potentials which have a strong repulsive singularity at the origin, for instance those which behave like gr −m , g > 0, m ≥ 2, etc. We also give an example of application to the low-energy behaviour of the S-wave scattering amplitude in two dimensions, which leads to an interesting result.