# weep

Pronunciation: say "WEEP" /wiːp/

## Verb

1. To cry and shed tears, often with sobbing or difficulty speaking, as an expression of sadness or joy.
   - Simple: To cry and shed tears because of a strong feeling such as sadness or joy.
   - _He wept openly at his father's funeral._
   - _Visitors often weep when they finally see the memorial._
3. To flow or ooze in drops, as moisture slowly escaping a surface.
   - Simple: To slowly let out liquid one drop at a time.
   - _Resin wept slowly from the wound in the tree trunk._
   - _Damp basements often weep along the lower walls in winter._
4. To give off fluid or secretions, as a wound or sore does.
   - Simple: To slowly give off fluid, as a sore or wound does.
   - _The burn wept fluid for nearly a week before healing._
   - _Blisters that weep should be kept clean and covered._
5. To hang or droop downward in pendent fashion, said of a plant or its branches.
   - Simple: To droop downward, as the branches of certain trees do.
   - _The old willow wept over the garden wall, its long shoots nearly touching the path._
   - _Certain cherry varieties weep gracefully, their flowering branches arching toward the soil._
7. To lament or complain, expressing grief or discontent.
   - Simple: To complain or show sorrow about something.
   - _Critics weep over the decline of craftsmanship in modern furniture._
   - _He wept at the injustice of it all in letter after letter._

## Noun

2. A period or session of crying.
   - Simple: A short time spent crying.
   - _She had a quiet weep in the bathroom before returning to the party._
   - _Sometimes a long weep is exactly what the heart needs._
6. A single sob.
   - Simple: A single sob while crying.
   - _A sudden weep broke from the child before she finally calmed down._
   - _Between weeps, she managed only a few broken words._
8. The red or reddish liquid that seeps from raw meat during storage, made mostly of water and protein.
   - Simple: The reddish liquid that leaks out of raw meat while it is stored.
   - _The packaging had collected a pool of weep beneath the chicken._
   - _Butchers drain the weep so the display case stays clean._
9. A name for the lapwing, in particular the northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus.
   - Simple: A medium-sized bird of open fields, also called the lapwing.
   - _Two weeps darted low across the plowed land, calling as they went._
   - _A lone weep nested among the tussocks near the river._

## Verb

10. To mourn or bewail; to shed tears over a loss. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To cry over someone or something, usually after a loss.
   - _The poet wept his fallen comrades in verse after verse._
   - _Mothers gathered to weep their sons taken by the war._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–8, 10** — From Middle English wepen, from Old English wēpan ("to weep, complain, mourn"), going back through Proto-Germanic *wōpijaną to the Proto-Indo-European root *weh₂b- ("to call, cry, complain"). It is related to Scots weep, Icelandic æpa ("to yell, shout"), and Proto-Slavic *vъpiti.
**Meaning 9** — Imitative of its cry.

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