# cry

Pronunciation: say "KRY" /kɹaɪ/

## Verb

1. To shed tears, especially from strong emotion, sometimes bringing oneself into a particular state by weeping.
   - Simple: To have tears come from your eyes, often because of strong feelings or pain.
   - _Don't cry. We can fix the vase._
   - _He was crying quietly in the back row during the funeral scene._
2. To shout or call out loudly, as in alarm, pain or to declare something.
   - Simple: To shout or call out something in a loud voice.
   - _'The verdict is in,' the clerk cried to the packed courtroom._
   - _Lookouts cry a warning the moment smoke appears on the ridge._
6. To grumble or moan about something, especially in a whiny, self-pitying way. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To complain about something in a whiny way, as if you feel sorry for yourself.
   - _Instead of crying about the new schedule, suggest a better one._
   - _Some players cry about every foul call instead of getting back on defense._
9. To give voice to wordless calls or noises in the way animals do.
   - Simple: To make loud natural sounds, as animals do.
   - _Marsh birds cry at dawn, filling the wetland with sound._
   - _Far off in the hills, a lone coyote cried at the moon._
10. To demand notice insistently or make one's presence strongly felt.
   - Simple: To demand attention so strongly that people cannot ignore it.
   - _The gilded mirrors and crystal chandeliers of the hotel lobby cry for attention._
   - _Her scarlet coat cried out in a sea of gray suits, and every head in the room turned._
11. To announce or advertise publicly by calling out, especially things lost or found, or goods for sale or auction.
   - Simple: To shout out news or things for sale so everyone in the street can hear.
   - _Street vendors still cry their wares in the old quarter every morning._
   - _The bellman cried the lost child's description through every lane of the town._

## Noun

3. A loud shout or scream, or the words shouted.
   - Simple: A loud shout or scream, or the words someone shouts.
   - _A cry of pain came from the next room._
   - _The climber gave a sharp cry as the rope slipped through his hands._
4. A desperate or urgent request or appeal.
   - Simple: A strong call for help or for something you badly need.
   - _Doctors described the patient's behavior as a cry for attention._
   - _The editorial was a cry for reform of the prison system._
5. An act or period of shedding tears; a bout of weeping.
   - Simple: A time when someone lets tears fall, often because of strong feelings.
   - _A good cry can release tension after a stressful week._
   - _He allowed himself a brief cry before facing the reporters._
7. A clamor or outcry, such as the uproar of a crowd.
   - Simple: A loud noise of shouting, often from many people at once.
   - _The cry of the crowd outside the stadium grew so loud that the players could barely hear each other._
   - _The plan to close the bridge raised a cry of protest across the town._
8. The typical sound made by a particular species of animal.
   - Simple: The special sound that one kind of animal usually makes.
   - _The loon's haunting cry echoed across the empty lake._
   - _Researchers can identify each species of gull by its distinctive cry._

## Verb

12. To announce publicly in church the banns of an intended marriage. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To announce in church that two people are planning to get married.
   - _The parish clerk will cry the banns next Sunday for the first time._
   - _Their banns were cried on three successive Sundays before the wedding._

## Noun

13. Common report or rumor; the prevailing talk among people. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: What everyone in a place is saying about something.
14. A pack or company of people, used contemptuously. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A group or crowd of people, used in an unkind way.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A pack of hounds, especially one kept and hunted together.

## Origin

Vulgar Latin *crītāre passed into Old French as crier, which gave the Middle English verb crien in the 13th century. *crītāre is generally traced to Classical Latin quirītāre, though a Proto-West Germanic source has also been proposed. The noun goes back to Middle English cry, from Old French cri. Already in the 13th century the verb had come to mean "to shed tears," and by the 16th century cry had mostly taken over this sense from weep.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cry (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).