cries

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of cry.

   She cries quietly at the end of every sad movie.

   The vendor cries his prices across the crowded market square.

   Note

   A spelling that follows the rule for a consonant plus y: the y becomes i before -es. The form carries every meaning of the verb, and the construction tells them apart. She cries quietly is tears. He cries his prices is a public call. She cries herself to sleep is the causative pattern, where crying brings someone into a new state.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of cry.

   Her sobs gave way to short, ragged cries as the news sank in.

   The rescuers followed the cries of the stranded hikers up the ridge.

   Note

   The same spelling as the present-tense verb, here counting shouts, screams, sobs and calls. Its most familiar company is for, as in cries for help. The noun also has a hunting meaning: a cry was a pack of hounds. It once stretched, scornfully and now obsolete, to a company of people, so in older writing cries may mean crowds rather than noises.

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