I. cry 1 S2 W2 /kraɪ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle cried , present participle crying , third person singular cries )
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ cry , ↑ crying , ↑ outcry ; verb : ↑ cry ; adjective : ↑ crying ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: crier , from Latin quiritare 'to shout for help (from a citizen), scream' , from Quiris 'Roman citizen' ]
1 . PRODUCE TEARS [intransitive and transitive] to produce tears from your eyes, usually because you are unhappy or hurt:
Don’t cry, Laura. It’ll be OK.
Upstairs, a baby began to cry.
Jamie looked like he’d been crying.
I just couldn’t stop crying.
That film always makes me cry.
cry over/about
I am too old to be crying over some young guy.
cry with/in
She felt like crying with frustration.
cry for
She could hear him crying for his mother.
cry your eyes/heart out (=be extremely sad and cry a lot)
Oliver, alone, began to cry bitterly (=cry a lot) .
cry yourself to sleep (=cry until you fall asleep)
2 . SAY LOUDLY [transitive] written to shout or say something loudly SYN cry out :
‘Stop!’ she cried.
It was painful, and made me cry aloud.
cry to
‘Goodbye then!’ he cried to her.
cry for
I could hear voices crying for help.
3 . cry over spilt milk to waste time feeling sorry about an earlier mistake or problem that cannot be changed:
It’s no use crying over spilt milk.
4 . for crying out loud spoken used when you feel annoyed or impatient with someone:
For crying out loud, stop nagging!
5 . cry foul to protest because you think something is wrong or not fair:
When the ads appeared, it was the Democrats’ turn to cry foul.
6 . ANIMALS/BIRDS [intransitive] if animals or birds cry, they make a loud sound:
I could hear gulls crying and the soft whisper of the sea.
7 . cry wolf to ask for help when you do not need it, so that people do not believe you when you really need help
8 . cry into your beer informal to feel too much pity for yourself, especially because you think you have been treated unfairly
⇨ not know whether to laugh or cry at ↑ laugh 1 (3), ⇨ cry for the moon at ↑ moon 1 (4), ⇨ a shoulder to cry on at ↑ shoulder 1 (5)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ start/begin to cry
She suddenly started to cry.
▪ make somebody cry
The end of the book was so sad that it made me cry.
▪ stop crying
Eventually, he stopped crying and told me what happened.
■ phrases
▪ feel like crying
I feel like crying every time I think about that day.
▪ cry your eyes/heart out (=be extremely sad and cry a lot)
Lucy read the letter and cried her eyes out.
▪ cry like a baby (=cry a lot and without control)
I cried like a baby when I heard the news.
▪ cry yourself to sleep (=cry until you fall asleep)
That night he cried himself to sleep.
■ adverbs
▪ cry loudly
She fell on her bed, crying loudly.
▪ cry quietly/softly
People sat crying softly among the wreckage.
▪ cry silently
When I looked at Jane, I saw that she was crying silently.
▪ cry bitterly (=because you feel angry or hurt)
I no longer felt brave or strong, and I began to cry bitterly.
▪ cry uncontrollably (=without being able to stop)
They were crying uncontrollably at the sight of his grave.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ cry to produce tears from your eyes:
Don’t cry – everything will be all right!
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Men aren’t supposed to cry.
▪ cry your eyes out especially spoken to cry a lot and for a long time:
I cried my eyes out when I watched ‘Titanic’.
▪ be in tears to be crying:
By the end of his story, we were all in tears.
▪ be close to tears to be almost crying:
You could see that she was close to tears.
▪ weep literary to cry, especially for a long time:
His mother put her head on the table and wept.
▪ sob to cry, taking sudden loud breaths:
I could hear someone sobbing in the next room.
▪ wail /weɪl/ to cry very loudly in a high voice:
The baby started wailing for its mother.
▪ whimper /ˈwɪmpə $ -ər/ to cry quietly and weakly:
She began rocking to and fro, whimpering softly.
▪ hold/fight back the tears to make a big effort not to cry:
She told her story, struggling to hold back the tears.
▪ your eyes water if your eyes water, they have tears in them, for example because of smoke, wind, or when you are cutting onions:
The onions were making my eyes water.
■ to start crying
▪ burst into tears to suddenly start crying:
The man shouted at her and she burst into tears.
▪ break down to start crying after trying hard not to cry, especially when talking about something very upsetting:
He broke down and begged for forgiveness.
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When I saw what had happened to him, I just broke down and cried.
cry off phrasal verb British English
to say that you cannot do something that you have already promised to do ⇨ cancel :
Leah and I were going to go to Morocco together, but at the last moment she cried off.
cry out phrasal verb
1 . to make a loud sound of fear, shock, pain etc
cry out in/with
Even the smallest movement made him cry out in pain.
John tightened his grip until she cried out.
2 . to shout or say something loudly:
‘Why are you doing this?’ she cried out suddenly.
cry out for
I felt too terrified to even cry out for help.
3 . be crying out for something informal to need something urgently:
The kitchen is crying out for a coat of paint.
My parents had divorced and I was crying out for love.
II. cry 2 W3 BrE AmE noun ( plural cries )
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ cry , ↑ crying , ↑ outcry ; verb : ↑ cry ; adjective : ↑ crying ]
1 . SOUND EXPRESSING EMOTION [countable] a loud sound expressing a strong emotion such as pain, fear, or pleasure:
a baby’s cry
cry of pain/alarm/delight etc
Alice let out a cry of alarm.
let out/give a cry
The stone hit him on the forehead and he gave a sharp cry.
2 . SHOUT [countable] a shouted word or phrase
cry of
At last, there was a cry of ‘Silence!’, and everyone looked towards the door.
cry for
Fortunately, a passerby heard his cries for help.
3 . TEARS [singular] especially British English a period of time during which tears come out of your eyes, usually because you are unhappy:
It’s good to have a cry sometimes.
I felt much better after I’d had a good cry (=cried for a long time) .
4 . cry for help something someone says or does that shows that they are very unhappy and need help:
I think taking the pills was a cry for help.
5 . PHRASE [countable] a phrase that is used to unite people in support of a particular action or idea SYN slogan :
‘Land and Liberty’ was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico.
⇨ ↑ battle cry (1), ↑ war cry
6 . ANIMAL/BIRD [countable] a sound made by a particular animal SYN call :
the cries of seagulls overhead
⇨ be a far cry from something at ↑ far 2 (5), ⇨ in full cry at ↑ full 1 (22), ⇨ ↑ hue and cry
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a cry of pain/despair/delight etc
A rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.
▪ a cry escapes somebody/sb’s lips
A cry escaped her lips as he tightened his grip on her wrist.
■ verbs
▪ give a cry
The woman looked up and gave a cry of fear.
▪ let out/utter a cry
Seeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.
■ adjectives
▪ a small/little cry
The child gave a small cry and burst into tears.
▪ a loud cry
a loud cry of pain
▪ a great cry literary (=a loud cry)
With a great cry they charged into battle.
▪ a sharp cry (=loud, short, and sudden)
He gave a sharp cry of pain.
▪ a low cry (=not loud or high)
I heard a long, low cry of despair.
▪ a strangled/stifled cry (=that stops before it is finished)
The girl gave a stifled cry of disappointment.
▪ a muffled cry (=that cannot be heard clearly)
I thought I heard a muffled cry from somewhere in the building.
▪ an anguished/agonised cry (=full of distress)
She gave an anguished cry, calling his name.