hue and cry

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noun

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

any public clamor, protest, or alarm: a general hue and cry against the war.

Nearby words

hudson, henry, hudson, william henry, hudsonian godwit, hudud, hue, hue and cry, huebnerite, hued, huelva, huemul, huerta

Origin of hue and cry

1250–1300; Middle English, translation of Anglo-French hu et cri. See hue², cry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hue and cry

He thought it wisest, therefore, to go into a large wood, and to hide there until the “hue-and-cry” should have passed.
The Life of a Conspirator|Thomas Longueville
A hue-and-cry was set up, and, within a few days of the theft, the red-breasted “Runners” had made an arrest.
The Gypsy's Parson|George Hall
Each member had his speciality, and each group its district and its sanctuary, in case of a hue-and-cry.
Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo|William Le Queux
We had expected something of this sort, and were therefore not surprised to see this hue-and-cry notice on the wall.
Gun running for Casement in the Easter rebellion, 1916|Karl Spindler

Yet we are told that we are the cause of all the trouble, because we do not join in the hue-and-cry.
The Slavery Question|John M. Landrum

British Dictionary definitions for hue and cry

hue and cry

noun

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

any loud public outcry

Word Origin for hue and cry

C16: from Anglo-French hu et cri, from Old French hue outcry, from huer to shout, from hu! shout of warning + cri cry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for hue and cry

hue and cry

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

Idioms and Phrases with hue and cry

hue and cry

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.