hue and cry

American  

noun

1. Early English Law. the pursuit of a felon or an offender with loud outcries or clamor to give an alarm.

2. any public clamor, protest, or alarm.

   a general hue and cry against the war.

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hue and cry British  

noun

1. (formerly) the pursuit of a suspected criminal with loud cries in order to raise the alarm

2. any loud public outcry

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hue and cry Cultural  

1. Any loud clamor or protest intended to incite others to action: “In the 1980s, there was a great hue and cry for educational reform.”

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hue and cry Idioms  

1. A public clamor, as of protest or demand. For example, The reformers raised a hue and cry about political corruption. This redundant expression (hue and cry both mean “an outcry”), dating from the 1200s, originally meant “an outcry calling for the pursuit of a criminal.” By the mid-1500s it was also being used more broadly, as in the example.

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Etymology

Origin of hue and cry

1250–1300; Middle English, translation of Anglo-French hu et cri. See hue ², cry

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hue and cry

“I said, ‘Where’s the hue and cry from the community?’

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

Unfortunately, short of a loud and continuous hue and cry from the rest of us, hunger will continue apace and only those who experience it will see its effects.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2023

It turned out to be less popular than many anticipated, and there was little hue and cry when it expired.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 23, 2022

"We grew up together, we used to play together. When he disappeared, there was a hue and cry," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2022

Just to see them made me know my worst fears had come true: a hue and cry had been raised against me.

From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi

Related Words

• brouhaha
• outcry
• uproar