cry

cry

I

cry¹ S2 W2 /kraɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle cried, present participle crying, third person singular cries)1.  PRODUCE TEARS  [intransitive and transitive] 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  [transitive] written to shout or say something loudly
   SYN  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  [intransitive] 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 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)
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ start/begin to cry She suddenly started to cry.
   ▪ make somebody cry The end of the book was so sad that it made me cry.
   ▪ stop crying Eventually, he stopped crying and told me what happened.
■ phrases
   ▪ feel like crying I feel like crying every time I think about that day.
   ▪ cry your eyes/heart out (=be extremely sad and cry a lot) Lucy read the letter and cried her eyes out.
   ▪ cry like a baby (=cry a lot and without control) I cried like a baby when I heard the news.
   ▪ cry yourself to sleep (=cry until you fall asleep) That night he cried himself to sleep.
■ adverbs
   ▪ cry loudly She fell on her bed, crying loudly.
   ▪ cry quietly/softly People sat crying softly among the wreckage.
   ▪ cry silently When I looked at Jane, I saw that she was crying silently.
   ▪ cry bitterly (=because you feel angry or hurt) I no longer felt brave or strong, and I began to cry bitterly.
   ▪ cry uncontrollably (=without being able to stop) They were crying uncontrollably at the sight of his grave.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ cry to produce tears from your eyes: Don’t cry – everything will be all right! | Men aren’t supposed to cry.
   ▪ cry your eyes out especially spoken to cry a lot and for a long time: I cried my eyes out when I watched ‘Titanic’.
   ▪ be in tears to be crying: By the end of his story, we were all in tears.
   ▪ be close to tears to be almost crying: You could see that she was close to tears.
   ▪ weep literary to cry, especially for a long time: His mother put her head on the table and wept.
   ▪ sob to cry, taking sudden loud breaths: I could hear someone sobbing in the next room.
   ▪ wail /weɪl/ to cry very loudly in a high voice: The baby started wailing for its mother.
   ▪ whimper /ˈwɪmpə $ -ər/ to cry quietly and weakly: She began rocking to and fro, whimpering softly.
   ▪ hold/fight back the tears to make a big effort not to cry: She told her story, struggling to hold back the tears.
   ▪ your eyes water if your eyes water, they have tears in them, for example because of smoke, wind, or when you are cutting onions: The onions were making my eyes water.
■ to start crying
   ▪ burst into tears to suddenly start crying: The man shouted at her and she burst into tears.
   ▪ break down to start crying after trying hard not to cry, especially when talking about something very upsetting: He broke down and begged for forgiveness. | When I saw what had happened to him, I just broke down and cried.
     
cry off phrasal verb British English
  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 phrasal verb
  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 something 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.

II

cry² W3 noun (plural cries)1.  SOUND EXPRESSING EMOTION  [countable] a loud sound expressing a strong emotion such as pain, fear, or pleasure:
    a baby’s cry
    cry of pain/alarm/delight etc
    Alice let out a cry of alarm.
    let out/give a cry
    The stone hit him on the forehead and he gave a sharp cry.
2.  SHOUT  [countable] 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 British English 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  [countable] a phrase that is used to unite people in support of a particular action or idea
   SYN  slogan:
    ‘Land and Liberty’ was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico. ⇨ battle cry(1), war cry
6.  ANIMAL/BIRD  [countable] a sound made by a particular animal
   SYN  call:
    the cries of seagulls overhead
⇨ be a far cry from something at far²(5), ⇨ in full cry at full¹(22), ⇨ hue and cry
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ phrases
   ▪ a cry of pain/despair/delight etc A rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.
   ▪ a cry escapes somebody/sb’s lips A cry escaped her lips as he tightened his grip on her wrist.
■ verbs
   ▪ give a cry The woman looked up and gave a cry of fear.
   ▪ let out/utter a cry Seeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.
■ adjectives
   ▪ a small/little cry The child gave a small cry and burst into tears.
   ▪ a loud cry a loud cry of pain
   ▪ a great cry literary (=a loud cry) With a great cry they charged into battle.
   ▪ a sharp cry (=loud, short, and sudden) He gave a sharp cry of pain.
   ▪ a low cry (=not loud or high) I heard a long, low cry of despair.
   ▪ a strangled/stifled cry (=that stops before it is finished) The girl gave a stifled cry of disappointment.
   ▪ a muffled cry (=that cannot be heard clearly) I thought I heard a muffled cry from somewhere in the building.
   ▪ an anguished/agonised cry (=full of distress) She gave an anguished cry, calling his name.

Cry
ˈCry, the Beˌloved ˌCountry
a book by Alan Paton about a black minister (=Christian priest) and his family in South Africa in the 1940s. It shows the lack of equality between black and white people, but encourages them not to hate each other.