Pronunciations (2)
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/kɹaɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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kɹaɪ̯
Verb
To shed tears; to weep, especially in anger or sadness.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The child began to cry.
That sad movie always makes me cry.
- Emerl: “There’s nothing worse than making a girl cry!” That’s what Sonic said...
To utter loudly; to call out; to declare publicly.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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All, all, cry shame against ye, yet I'll speak.
[T]he Man put his fingers in his Ears, and ran on crying, Life, Life, Eternal Life: [...]
To shout, scream, yell.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Examples
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She cried for help.
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice.
To forcefully attract attention or proclaim one’s presence.
Usage- Figurative
- Intransitive
- Examples
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My secrets cry aloud. I have no need for tongue.
To utter inarticulate sounds, as animals do.
Usage- Intransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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the young ravens which cry
In a cowslip's bell I lie / There I couch when owls do cry.
To cause to do something, or bring to some state, by crying or weeping.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Tonight I’ll cry myself to sleep.
To make oral and public proclamation of; to notify or advertise by outcry, especially things lost or found, goods to be sold, auctioned, etc.
- Examples
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to cry goods
Love is lost, and thus she cries him.
More examples (2)
“We're in luck. Loren Passerine, the finest auctioneer in the West, will be crying today.” “Will be what?” “We say an auctioneer ‘cries’ a sale,” Cohen said.
Oh, Elcid Barrett cried the town / (How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now!) / For twenty brave men, all fishermen, who / Would make for him the Antelope's crew.
To make oral and public proclamation of; to notify or advertise by outcry, especially things lost or found, goods to be sold, auctioned, etc. Hence, to publish the banns of, as for marriage.
- Examples
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I should not be surprised if they were cried in church next Sabbath.
Noun
A shedding of tears; the act of crying.
- Examples
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After we broke up, I retreated to my room for a good cry.
Then the next thing They made a swing, But Jill set up a big cry, For the swing gave way, In the midst of the play, And threw her into the pigsty.
A shout or scream.
- Examples
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We heard a cry outside.
I heard a cry from afar.
Words shouted or screamed.
- Examples
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a battle cry
A clamour or outcry.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
His pupil, Maimonides, that he might not be under the necessity of violating the laws of friendship and gratitude, by joining the general cry against Averroes, left Corduba.
A group of hounds.
Usage- Archaic
- collective
- Examples
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A cry more tunable / Was never hollaed to, nor cheered with horn.
More examples (1)
1667, Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II, in Edward Hawkins, The Poetical Works of John Milton: With Notes of Various Authors, Vol. I, W. Baxter, J. Parker, G. B. Whittaker (publs., 1824) pages 124 to 126, lines 648 to 659. […] Before the gates there sat / On either side a formidable shape; / The one seem’d woman to the waste, and fair, / But ended foul in many a scaly fold / Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm’d / With mortal sting: about her middle round / A cry of hell-hounds never ceasing bark’d / With wide Cerberean mouths full loud and rung / A hideous peal; yet, when they list,would creep, / If ought disturb'd their noise, into her womb, / and kennel there, yet there still bark’d and howl’d, / Within unseen. […]
sometimes I have known such a cry of hounds at uncoupling to take the game at counter
A pack or company of people.
Usage- broadly
- Derogatory
- Obsolete
- Examples
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Would not this […] get me a fellowship in a cry of players?
A typical sound made by the species in question.
Usage- of an animal
- Examples
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"Woof" is the cry of a dog, while "neigh" is the cry of a horse.
More examples (1)
But the shrill wild cry of the heron overpowered the cries of all the other birds, whom it seemed to terrify; they were silent the moment they heard it, and a silence followed which made the interruption doubly unpleasant.
A desperate or urgent request.
Common report; gossip.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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The cry goes that you shall marry her.
Noun
a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the speaker was interrupted by loud cries from the rear of the audience
a loud utterance of emotion (especially when inarticulate)
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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a cry of rage
a yell of pain
a slogan used to rally support for a cause
- Broader terms
- Examples
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a cry to arms
our watchword will be ‘democracy’
a fit of weeping
- Broader terms
- Examples
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had a good cry
the characteristic utterance of an animal
- Broader terms
- Examples
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animal cries filled the night
Verb
utter a sudden loud cry
- Examples
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she cried with pain when the doctor inserted the needle
I yelled to her from the window but she couldn't hear me
shed tears because of sadness, rage, or pain
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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She cried bitterly when she heard the news of his death
The girl in the wheelchair wept with frustration when she could not get up the stairs
utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
- Broader terms
- Examples
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‘I won!’ he exclaimed
‘Help!’ she cried
More examples (1)
‘I'm here,’ the mother shouted when she saw her child looking lost
proclaim or announce in public
- Synonyms
- Examples
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before we had newspapers, a town crier would cry the news
He cried his merchandise in the market square
demand immediate action
- Examples
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This situation is crying for attention
utter a characteristic sound
- Examples
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The cat was crying
bring into a particular state by crying
- Examples
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The little boy cried himself to sleep