cry

cry¹ W2S2 [kraı] v past tense and past participle cried present participle crying third person singular cries

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1¦(produce tears)¦

2¦(say loudly)¦

3 cry over spilt milk

4 for crying out loud

5 cry foul

6¦(animals/birds)¦

7 cry wolf

8 cry into your beer

Phrasal verbs

　cry off

　cry out

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[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: crier, from Latin quiritare 'to shout for help (from a citizen), scream', from Quiris 'Roman citizen']

1.) ¦(PRODUCE TEARS)¦

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)¦ [T]

[i]written to shout or say something loudly

= ↑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)¦

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 [i]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 ↑laugh¹ (3), cry for the moon at ↑moon¹ (4), a shoulder to cry on at ↑shoulder¹ (5)

cry off phr v

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 phr v

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 sth 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.

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WORD FOCUS: words meaning cry

be in tears to be crying

burst into tears to suddenly start crying

break down (in tears) to suddenly cry a lot, after trying not to cry

sob to cry noisily, with sudden noisy breaths

weep (especially written) to cry a lot for a long time

bawl if a baby bawls, it cries very loudly

have tears in your eyes to be about to cry

your eyes water you start to cry, especially because you have been cutting up onions or there is a lot of smoke

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cry ²

cry² W3 n plural cries

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1¦(sound expressing emotion)¦

2¦(shout)¦

3¦(tears)¦

4 cry for help

5¦(phrase)¦

6¦(animal/bird)¦

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1.) ¦(SOUND EXPRESSING EMOTION)¦

a loud sound expressing a strong emotion such as pain, fear, or pleasure

▪ a baby's cry

cry of pain/alarm/delight etc

▪ Alice leapt to one side with a cry of alarm.

let out/give a cry

▪ The stone hit him on the forehead and he gave a sharp cry.

2.) ¦(SHOUT)¦

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 BrE 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)¦

a phrase that is used to unite people in support of a particular action or idea

= ↑slogan

▪ 'Land and Liberty' was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico.

→↑battle cry, ↑war cry

6.) ¦(ANIMAL/BIRD)¦

a sound made by a particular animal

▪ the cries of seagulls overhead

→be a far cry from sth at ↑far² (5), in full cry at ↑full¹ (22), ↑hue and cry