Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage
China

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: crier, from Latin quiritare 'to shout for help (from a citizen), scream', from Quiris 'Roman citizen'

cry

1 verb
     
cry1 S2 W2 past tense and past participle cried, present participle crying, third person singular cries
1

produce tears

[intransitive]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] written to shout or say something loudly [= 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:
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]HB 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)WORD FOCUS: cry WORD FOCUS: cry
be in tears to be crying
burst into tears to suddenly start crying
break down (in tears) to suddenly cry a lot, after trying not to cry
sob to cry noisily, with sudden noisy breaths
weep especially written to cry a lot for a long time
bawl if a baby bawls, it cries very loudly
have tears in your eyes to be about to cry
your eyes water you start to cry, especially because you have been cutting up onions or there is a lot of smoke

cry off

phrasal verb
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.
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