Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Cry \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.