weep
[verb]
Synonyms: cry, blubber, lament, mourn, shed tears, snivel, sob, whimper

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English Thesaurus: cry, cry your eyes out, be in tears, be close to tears, weep, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

weep /wiːp/ verb (past tense and past participle wept /wept/)
[Language: Old English; Origin: wepan]

1. [intransitive and transitive] formal or literary to cry, especially because you feel very sad:
James broke down and wept.
weep for
She wept for the loss of her mother.
He wept bitterly (=cried a lot) when it was time for us to leave.

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In everyday English, people usually say cry rather than weep:
She was crying all the way through the movie.

2. I could have wept spoken used to say that you felt very disappointed about something:
I could have wept thinking what I’d missed.

3. [intransitive] if a wound weeps, liquid comes out of it
—weep noun [singular]

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

weep
verb
ADV. copiously | loudly | quietly, silently | openly, unashamedly The people wept openly when his death was announced.
bitterly | inconsolably, uncontrollably His grandmother was weeping uncontrollably.
almost | a little
VERB + WEEP begin to, start to | want to | make sb
PREP. at He wanted to weep at the unfairness of it all.
for I felt I could have wept for joy. weeping for someone who has died
over We had wept over the death of our parents.
with She almost wept with happiness.
PHRASES break down and weep Several of the soldiers broke down and wept.
weep and wail The mourners followed the funeral procession, weeping and wailing.
weep buckets (informal) (= weep a lot)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

weep

openly
Some of the mourners wept openly.
bitterly (=crying hard)
I heard the sound of a woman weeping bitterly.
quietly/silently
He was weeping quietly, allowing the tears to run down his cheeks.
weep tears
She wept bitter tears of self-reproach.
weep buckets informal (=produce a lot of tears)
I didn’t know if she would get well, and I wept buckets every night.
break down and weep (=start crying)
As she watched his plane taxi away, she broke down and wept.
weep and wail (=cry and make loud sad noises – often used humorously)
The baby wept and wailed all the way through the ceremony.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲