weep

¹ American  

[weep] / wip /

verb (used without object)

wept, weeping

1. to express grief, sorrow, or any overpowering emotion by shedding tears; shed tears; cry.

   to weep for joy;

   to weep with rage.

   Synonyms:

   lament, wail, sob

   Antonyms:

   rejoice, laugh

2. to let fall drops of water or other liquid; drip; leak.

   The old water tank was weeping at the seams.

3. to exude water or liquid, as soil, a rock, a plant stem, or a sore.

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verb (used with object)

wept, weeping

1. to weep for (someone or something); mourn with tears or other expression of sorrow.

   He wept his dead brother.

   Synonyms:

   lament, bemoan, bewail

2. to shed (tears); pour forth in weeping.

   to weep tears of gratitude.

3. to let fall or give forth in drops.

   trees weeping an odorous gum.

4. to pass, bring, put, etc., to or into a specified condition with the shedding of tears (usually followed by away, out, etc.).

   to weep one's eyes out;

   to weep oneself to sleep.

noun

1. weeping, or a fit of weeping.

2. the exudation of water or liquid.

weep ² American  

[weep] / wip /

noun

British Dialect.

1. the lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, of Europe.

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weep British  

/ wiːp /

verb

1. to shed (tears) as an expression of grief or unhappiness

2. to utter, shedding tears

3. to mourn or lament (for something)

4. to exude (drops of liquid)

5. (intr) (of a wound, etc) to exude a watery or serous fluid

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noun

1. a spell of weeping

Etymology

Origin of weep¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English wepen, Old English wēpan “to wail”; cognate with Gothic wōpjan “to call,” Old Norse æpa “to cry out”

Origin of weep²

Imitative

Example Sentences

Mr Hatton's family wept and hugged each other as the coroner read out her conclusion.

From BBC

People were climbing aboard while friends and relatives in the crowd wept or simply stared.

From Literature

She wept then, uncontrollably, as much in anger as in grief, I thought.

From Literature

“Ohhh, leave me be,” it moaned, gravely, like wind weeping in treetops.

From Literature

At the scene, nurses wept in a corner: "What has happened to our colleagues?"

From Barron's

Related Words

• break down
• complain
• grieve
• howl
• moan
• mourn
• sob
• wail
• whimper