cry havoc

Idioms and Phrases

Sound an alarm or warning, as in In his sermon the pastor cried havoc to the congregation's biases against gays . The noun havoc was once a command for invaders to begin looting and killing the defenders' town. Shakespeare so used it in Julius Caesar (3:1): “Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war.” By the 19th century the phrase had acquired its present meaning.

Example Sentences

Do they in slumber enjoy again the midnight raid upon the marrow-bed, or cry havoc on the choicest lilies of the garden?

From Project Gutenberg

If it's war she wants, cry havoc and let slip the sleuth hounds.

From Project Gutenberg

The first thing I knew I was sprinkling hell-fire on them, 'Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.'

From Project Gutenberg

To cry havoc appears to have been a signal for indiscriminate slaughter.

From Project Gutenberg