I. cheer 1 /tʃɪə $ tʃɪr/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: chere '(expression on) the face' , perhaps from Late Latin cara , from Greek kara 'head' ]
1 . [countable] a shout of happiness, praise, approval, or encouragement OPP boo :
A great cheer went up from the crowd.
So let’s give a cheer to the kids who passed their exams.
The final whistle was greeted with triumphant cheers from players and spectators.
2 . three cheers for somebody! spoken used to tell a group of people to shout three times as a way of showing support, happiness, thanks etc:
Three cheers for the birthday girl!
3 . [uncountable] formal a feeling of happiness and confidence:
‘Hello,’ said Auguste cheerily. His good cheer was not returned.
Christmas cheer
4 . [countable] a special ↑ chant (=phrase that is repeated) that the crowds at a US sports game shout in order to encourage their team to win
⇨ ↑ cheers
II. cheer 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to shout as a way of showing happiness, praise, approval, or support of someone or something:
Everybody cheered when the firemen arrived.
The audience was shouting and cheering.
The spectators cheered him wildly.
2 . [transitive] to make someone feel more hopeful when they are worried:
By late afternoon there came news that cheered them all.
Government policy towards higher education contains little to cheer university students.
—cheering adjective :
cheering news
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ shout to say something very loudly:
The two men were shouting angrily at each other.
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‘Wait for me!’ he shouted.
▪ yell ( also holler American English ) to shout very loudly, especially because you are angry, excited, or in pain. Yell is more informal than shout :
The children were yelling at each other across the street.
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‘Steve, are you there?’ Patti hollered up the stairs.
▪ call (out) to shout in order to get someone’s attention:
He called her name but she didn’t hear him.
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‘Is anybody there?’ he called out.
▪ cry (out) written to shout something loudly, especially because you are in pain, frightened, or very excited:
‘I can’t move,’ Lesley cried.
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He cried out in panic.
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‘Look what I’ve found!’ she cried.
▪ scream to shout in a very loud high voice, because you are frightened, unhappy, angry etc:
The baby wouldn’t stop screaming.
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She screamed as she jumped into the cold water.
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‘It’s my money!’ she screamed at him.
▪ roar written to shout in a loud deep voice:
The crowd roared their appreciation.
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‘Stop this nonsense!' he roared.
▪ bellow written to shout in a loud deep voice, especially when you want a lot of people to hear you:
He was bellowing orders at the soldiers.
▪ bawl to shout in a loud and unpleasant way, because you are angry or unhappy:
‘What are you doing?’ he bawled.
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The kids were bawling in the back of the car.
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She was always bawling at the children.
▪ raise your voice to say something more loudly than normal, especially because you are angry:
I never heard my father raise his voice.
▪ cheer if a group of people cheer, they shout as a way of showing their approval:
The crowd cheered when the band came on stage.
cheer somebody ↔ on phrasal verb
to shout encouragement at a person or team to help them do well in a race or competition:
They gathered round the swimming pool and cheered her on.
cheer up phrasal verb
1 . to become less sad, or to make someone feel less sad:
Cheer up! The worst is over.
They cheered up when they saw us coming along.
cheer somebody ↔ up
Here’s a bit of news that will cheer you up.
You both need cheering up, I think.
2 . cheer something ↔ up to make a place look more attractive:
I bought some posters to cheer the place up a bit.