bawl
Americanverb (used without object)
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bawls,
present (3rd person singular)
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bawled,
past participle, past
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bawling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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bawls,
present (3rd person singular)
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bawled,
past participle, past
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bawling
present participle
-
to utter or proclaim by outcry; shout out.
to bawl one's dissatisfaction;
bawling his senseless ditties to the audience.
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to offer for sale by shouting, as a hawker.
a peddler bawling his wares.
noun
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a loud shout; outcry.
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a period or spell of loud crying or weeping.
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Chiefly Midland and Western U.S. the noise made by a calf.
verb phrase
verb
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(intr) to utter long loud cries, as from pain or frustration; wail
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to shout loudly, as in anger
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bawlsimple
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bawlssimple
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have bawledperfect
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has bawledperfect
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am bawlingprogressive
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are bawlingprogressive
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is bawlingprogressive
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have been bawlingperfect progressive
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has been bawlingperfect progressive
Past
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bawledsimple
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had bawledperfect
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was bawlingprogressive
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were bawlingprogressive
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had been bawlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bawl
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin baulāre “to bark,” from Germanic; compare Old Norse baula “to low,” baula “cow,” perhaps a conflation of belja ( see bell 2) with an unrecorded old root bhu-
Explanation
To bawl is to weep or wail loudly. If you tend to bawl at sad movies, you might want to bring some tissues for wiping your tears and blowing your nose. If a baby bawls all night, he doesn't just cry — he sobs and howls. You can also use the verb to talk about other loud sounds, like shouts: "He bawls out orders while we stand there, confused," or even amusement: "She bawls with laughter all through the woman's strange speech." In the 15th century, to bawl was to "bark like a dog," from the Old Norse baula, "to low or moo like a cow."
Vocabulary lists containing bawl
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Stargirl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There were a lot of times when everyone was asleep, everybody was full and fed, and I would just bawl crying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2024
A fan since the age of four, he has travelled with his mum Penny, and added: "I'm just going to bawl my eyes out the whole time, I just know that for a fact."
From BBC ● May 16, 2023
The punchline rocks the audience, who bawl with laughter, interspersed with oohing.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2023
Carolyn: I'm going to call her this evening and probably bawl halfway through our conversation, but she deserves to know how much she means to me.
From Washington Post ● May 4, 2021
I got up before I began to bawl like a first grader.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
“And this is me finishing it!” she bawls into the camera, the onscreen captions helpfully describing “dramatic wailing & yelling.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2021
Upon hearing the newborn’s piercing bawls, Segawa strode toward the birth register to record the newborn’s details.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2017
And then, “My name is Kiiiid,” he bawls, dragging one syllable out for two measures.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 17, 2016
“We can lose against anyone, but less so against Chile because it is a Clásico,” he bawls in this handy preview of tonight’s affair by my colleague Gerard Meagher.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 29, 2015
He lunged and let out one of his famous catch-a-rabbit bawls.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
"Can't take it, Rory?'" bawled one New Yorker.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2025
“I bawled my eyes out as if I’d lost the love of my life, and that, for me as a person — what a gift, because it’s fake but it was real for me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
Shelby Kayser sat straight up in the saddle on her 5-year-old American Paint horse named Lozzy, her eyes focused on the cattle as they bunched and bawled on the ramp into the truck.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
After the losing streak ended, senior center Owen Sheeran bawled.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 3, 2022
About halfway over and while still in the air he bawled.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
It was a powerful moment, and all around me even the men were bawling like a bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Stripped of his invulnerability, Homelander wilts into a bawling wimp, begging for his life on his knees.
From Salon ● May 24, 2026
Austin - who had passed out after making the call - was taken to hospital where he called his father, bawling his eyes out.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
"I was like: 'Who is this girl bawling her eyes out?'" she says with amusement - adding that she was one of the only islanders who "came for the right reason" and had "depth".
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2025
Mumbling something about a yelling boy and a bawling hound, Grandpa finally got the mares settled down.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
