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

My hunch is that when all the hue and cry ends, the ballot measure passes, and the Thunder remain in OKC for the foreseeable future.

From Seattle Times

I asked people then why living in such awful situations wasn't creating more of a hue and cry for change.

From Salon

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

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

From Seattle Times

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

From BBC

Related Words

• brouhaha
• outcry
• uproar