Cry (kr?), n.;
pl. Cries (kr&?;z). [F. cri, fr. crier to cry. See
Cry, v. i. ]
1. A loud utterance; especially,
the inarticulate sound produced by one of the lower animals; as, the cry of hounds; the cry of wolves. Milton.
2.
Outcry; clamor; tumult; popular demand.
Again that cry was found to have
been as unreasonable as ever.
Macaulay.
3. Any expression of grief, distress, etc.,
accompanied with tears or sobs;
a loud sound, uttered in lamentation.
There shall be a great cry throughout all the land.
Ex. xi.
6.
An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light;
And with no language but a cry.
Tennyson.
4. Loud expression of triumph or
wonder or of popular acclamation or favor. Swift.
The cry went once on
thee.
Shak.
5. Importunate supplication.
O, the most piteous cry of the poor
souls.
Shak.
6. Public advertisement by outcry; proclamation, as by hawkers of their wares.
The street
cries of London.
Mayhew.
7. Common report; fame.
The
cry goes that you shall marry her.
Shak.
8. A word or phrase caught up by a party or faction and repeated for effect; as, the party
cry of the Tories.
All now depends upon a good
cry.
Beaconsfield.
9. A pack
of hounds. Milton.
A cry more tunable
Was never hollaed to, nor cheered with horn.
Shak.
10. A pack or company of persons; -- in contempt.
Would not this . . . get me a fellowship in a cry of
players?
Shak.
11. The crackling noise made by
block tin when it is bent back and
forth.
A far cry, a long distance; -- in allusion to the sending of criers or messengers through the territory of a Scottish
clan with an announcement or summons.
Cry , v. t. 1. To
utter loudly; to call out; to shout; to sound abroad; to declare publicly.
All, all, cry shame against ye, yet I 'll speak.
Shak.
The man . . . ran on,crying, Life! life! Eternal life!
Bunyan.
2. To cause to do something, or bring to some
state, by crying or weeping; as, to cry one's self to sleep.
3. To make oral and
public proclamation
of; to declare publicly; to notify or
advertise by outcry, especially things
lost or found, goods to be sold,
ets.; as, to cry goods, etc.
Love is lost, and thus she cries him.
Crashaw.
4. Hence, to publish the banns of,
as for marriage.
I should not
be surprised if they were cried in church next Sabbath.
Judd.
To cry aim.
See under Aim. - - To cry down, to decry; to depreciate; to dispraise; to condemn.
Men of dissolute lives cry down religion, because they would not be under
the restraints of it.
Tillotson.
-- To cry out,
to proclaim; to shout. "Your gesture cries it out." Shak. -- To cry quits, to propose, or declare, the abandonment of a contest. -- To cry up,
to enhance the value or
reputation of by public and
noisy praise; to extol; to laud publicly or urgently.
Cry (krī), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Cried (krīd); p. pr. & vb. n. Crying.]
[F. crier, cf. L. quiritare
to raise a plaintive cry, scream, shriek, perh. fr.
queri to complain; cf.
Skr. cvas to pant, hiss, sigh. Cf. Quarrel a brawl, Querulous.]
1. To make
a loud call
or cry; to call or exclaim vehemently or earnestly; to shout; to vociferate; to proclaim; to pray; to implore.
And about the
ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice.
Matt. xxvii.
46.
Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice.
Shak.
Hear the voice of
my supplications when I cry unto thee.
Ps. xxviii.
2.
The voice of him
that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Is. xl. 3.
Some cried after him to
return.
Bunyan.
2. To utter lamentations; to lament audibly; to express pain, grief, or distress, by weeping and sobbing; to shed tears; to bawl, as a child.
Ye shall cry for sorrow of heart.
Is. lxv.
14.
I could find it
in my heart
to disgrace my man's apparel and to cry like a woman.
Shak.
3. To utter inarticulate
sounds, as animals.
The young ravens which cry.
Ps.
cxlvii. 9.
In a cowslip's bell I lie
There I couch when owls do cry.
Shak.
To cry on or
upon, to call upon the
name of; to
beseech. "No longer on Saint Denis will we cry." Shak. -- To cry out.
(a) To exclaim; to vociferate; to scream; to clamor. (b)
To complain loudly; to lament. -- To cry out against, to complain loudly of; to censure; to blame. -- To cry out on
or upon, to denounce; to censure. "Cries out upon abuses." Shak.
-- To cry to, to call on in prayer; to implore. -- To cry you mercy, to beg your pardon. "I cry you mercy, madam; was it you?"
Shak.