verb
1
BAD : The children got very excited and began to cry.
GOOD : The children got very excited and began to scream.
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cry = shout something: ' "Help! Help!" she cried.'
cry out = make a sudden loud noise when you are frightened, shocked, hurt, etc: 'When they tried to move him, he cried out in pain.'
scream = make a loud, high, continuous noise, especially when you are very frightened, very excited or in great pain: 'One of the firemen thought he heard someone screaming inside the building.' 'The fans didn't stop screaming until the group had left the stage.'
2
BAD : Even when she is angry, she never cries.
GOOD : Even when she is angry, she never shouts.
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shout = speak in a very loud voice, especially because you want someone to hear you or because you are angry: 'There's no need to shout. I'm not deaf, you know.' 'The demonstrators marched through the streets shouting: No more war! No more war!'
3
DUBIOUS : When he reached the point in his story when his friends were arrested and tortured, he began to cry.
GOOD : When he reached the point in his story when his friends were arrested and tortured, he began to weep.
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cry = the opposite of laugh : 'As the child was running towards me, she fell over and began to cry.' 'Babies always cry when they're hungry.'
weep = cry quietly, usually because of great sadness. This word is mainly used in literary styles: 'He knelt down by his son's small grave and wept.'
4
BAD : I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
GOOD : I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
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Laugh or cry is a fixed phrase: 'His jokes are so awful that you don't know whether to laugh or cry.'