weep

¹ American  

[weep] / wip /

noun

British Dialect.

1. the lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, of Europe.

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weep ² 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 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

Imitative

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”

Example Sentences

Read, and weep for the future of America.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fred’s boss is a man of “slightly unhinged intensity,” whom Fred has seen, more than once, “weep on cue, before the entire district, like a fund-raising evangelist.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Ardvrek is said to be haunted by the ghostly figure of a man, and a weeping woman.

From BBC

“I nearly wept on more than one occasion because of how moved I felt about what Justin was doing,” Jesso says.

From Los Angeles Times

AFP reporters in Dhaka saw people weeping in the streets while others looked shocked.

From Barron's

Related Words

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