From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcrycry1 /kraɪ/ ●●● S2 W2 verb (cried, crying, cries) 1 produce tears [intransitive, transitive]HBH 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] writtenSHOUT 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 milk4 → for crying out loud5 → cry foul6 animals/birds [intransitive]HBLOW SOUND OR VOICE if animals or birds cry, they make a loud sound I could hear gulls crying and the soft whisper of the sea.7 → cry wolf8 → cry into your beer → 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)COLLOCATIONSverbsstart/begin to cryShe suddenly started to cry.make somebody cryThe end of the book was so sad that it made me cry.stop cryingEventually, he stopped crying and told me what happened.phrasesfeel like cryingI 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.adverbscry loudlyShe fell on her bed, crying loudly.cry quietly/softlyPeople sat crying softly among the wreckage.cry silentlyWhen 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. THESAURUScry to produce tears from your eyesDon’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 timeI cried my eyes out when I watched ‘Titanic’.be in tears to be cryingBy the end of his story, we were all in tears.be close to tears to be almost cryingYou could see that she was close to tears.weep literary to cry, especially for a long timeHis mother put her head on the table and wept.sob to cry, taking sudden loud breathsI could hear someone sobbing in the next room.wail /weɪl/ to cry very loudly in a high voiceThe baby started wailing for its mother.whimper /ˈwɪmpə $ -ər/ to cry quietly and weaklyShe began rocking to and fro, whimpering softly.hold/fight back the tears to make a big effort not to cryShe 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 onionsThe onions were making my eyes water.to start cryingburst into tears to suddenly start cryingThe 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 upsettingHe broke down and begged for forgiveness.When I saw what had happened to him, I just broke down and cried. → cry off → cry out→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
cry• "Come and see what I've found!" Kurt cried.• The film was so sad, it made me cry.• During one closing argument that summer, Gwinn broke down and cried.• When she opened her eyes and saw that she had again missed the tray, she cried.• "What are we going to do?" she cried.• Kim's eyes were red and she looked as though she'd been crying.• Jenny won't tell me what she's crying about.• I sat alone in my room and cried and cried.• Take on the world and never cry craven, he'd said.• The poor kid's so miserable, he's upstairs crying his eyes out.• Don't cry, I didn't mean to upset you.• "I can't move, " Lesley cried. "I think I've broken my leg."• I could hear the baby crying in the next room.• The seagulls on the cliffs were crying loudly.• At night I'd cry myself to sleep, thinking about you.• In these early weeks of her dying, Sycorax slept, and in her sleep, cried out.• The baby was crying, so I went in to check on him.• Emmie had cried until her eyes were hot and her throat dry and aching.• If we cry when we are sad, the physiological response is tears from the eyes and nose.• She cried with joy when she heard that the children were safe.• The growers who are crying wolf today about the lack of water will post their annual profits in a few months.makes ... cry• Finding where I lived makes me cry.• It is the onion, memory, that makes me cry.• Plus the way, increasingly, that anything makes me cry.• The shock of cold water makes me cry out with surprise.cry aloud• He caught Sally-Anne's wrist in his hand with such strength that she cried aloud.• This was very painful, and made me cry aloud.• We were near the top when a man on the left cried aloud.• She heard herself cry aloud, as if she had left her body, expelled by the spasm which shook it.• The situation cries aloud for strong, even dramatic, and also attention-winning, arguments.• She cried aloud in joyous elation, her body still on fire, holding on to the magical moment as long as she could.crycry2 ●●○ W3 noun (plural cries) 1 sound expressing emotion [countable]SHOUT a loud sound expressing a strong emotion such as pain, fear, or pleasure a baby’s crycry 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]SHOUT a shouted word or phrasecry 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 EnglishCRY 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 help5 phrase [countable]UNITE 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 cry6 animal/bird [countable]HBA 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 cryCOLLOCATIONSphrasesa cry of pain/despair/delight etcA rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.a cry escapes somebody/sb’s lipsA cry escaped her lips as he tightened his grip on her wrist.verbsgive a cryThe woman looked up and gave a cry of fear.let out/utter a crySeeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.adjectivesa small/little cryThe child gave a small cry and burst into tears.a loud crya loud cry of paina 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. Examples from the Corpus
cry• All at once I felt the ground moving under my feet, and cries issuing from it.• From below there were the hoarse confused cries of the mob.• A distant cry can be heard issuing from a classroom.• It is a far cry from most people's idea of accountants at work.• That seems a far cry from just a few years ago when the only diesels were lorries, buses and the occasional taxi.• A far cry from the 40,000 they were promising.• You'll feel better when you've had a good cry.• "Land and liberty" was the rallying cry of revolutionary Mexico.• We heard a child's cries for help coming from the river.• As they left the stage there were cries of "More! More!"cry of pain/alarm/delight etc• He flicked the light-switch, and Isobel, who loved cars, gave a cry of delight.• But when he uncovered the picture, he gave a cry of pain.• Behind him Hrun screamed, but it sounded more like a bellow of rage than a cry of pain.• There was a cry of pain.• With one last blinding cry of pain she brushed past him and ran from the room.• He stumbled, and lay in agony, his cries of pain clearly audible around a now-hushed ground.• Grunts, laughter, thuds, slaps, cries of pain and more grunts continued.• According to another speculation, vocal language gradually evolved from spontaneous cries of pain, pleasure, or other emotions.cry of• We heard a distant cry of warning.• From below came the hoarse cries of the injured workers.• the cries of seagullshave a cry• I could have cried had our situation not been so serious.• She felt so ineffective, she could have cried.• And during that year I have cried alone in secret too many times to count.• I have cried for Sybil, yes, but I can not cry today.• I may have cried down the telephone, but Mme Dragon wouldn't unbend.• She may have cried a good deal without understanding why.• I must have cried out, for I attracted the attention of my husband.• If he could have known that he was a workhouse orphan, perhaps he would have cried even more loudly.rallying cry• This rhetoric offers both a posthoc justification for the changes, and a rallying cry for implementation.• They both hated orthodoxies and bandwagons, catch-phrases and rallying cries.• Public order is an election rallying cry and fear of crime can influence practice as well as policy.• Self-denial and self-help, however, would make a poor rallying cry for the hustings.• It has been a radical rallying cry ever since Lenin laid it down as doctrine.• Newspapers sometimes appeared to be providing the rallying cry for future demonstration.• That was the rallying cry of Nelson Mandela's finely crafted speech.Origin cry1 (1200-1300) Old French crier, from Latin quiritare “to shout for help (from a citizen), scream”, from Quiris “Roman citizen” 