noun
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a widespread or vehement protest
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clamour; uproar
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commerce a method of trading in which dealers shout out bids and offers at a prearranged meeting
sale by open outcry
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of outcry
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at out-, cry
Explanation
An outcry is an outburst or shout — either by one person, or by a group of people. Faced with the outcry of three kids under the age of ten, a frustrated babysitter may give in, letting them stay up past bedtime. When a teacher promises his class a pizza party at the end of the week, he can expect an outcry if the pizzas don't show up on Friday. This kind of outcry is a form of protest, a group of angry or passionate people raising their voices together. The older, fourteenth century meaning of outcry is simply "crying out." The "public protest" meaning was first used around 1910.
Vocabulary lists containing outcry
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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:
Amid a public outcry, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko acknowledged the case has "sparked a broader discussion about the behaviour of certain service members in the rear."
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Since the Church of Scientology first requested the city vacate a stretch of South Garden Avenue more than a year ago, the proposal has triggered outcry and suspicions about Scientology’s sway over local government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
He had the tattoo covered up following the outcry.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
"But the public outcry, the opprobrium... has gravely exacerbated his punishment."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
A sudden outcry on the east side of the knoll showed that something was wrong.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The company also dropped some war-related bets after public outcries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Such public outcries and legal challenges are likely to follow in the other nations preparing to pass their own age-verification mandates—and that’s exactly where the energy needs to be directed.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2026
When immigration agents followed two women through an L.A. courthouse last month and arrested them, it drew outcries from nearly all corners of L.A.’s legal community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2025
Despite outcries from advocates and individuals, however, hospital leaders have stayed silent.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
Gurgi, sitting cross-legged, devoured his food with so many outcries of pleasure and loud smackings of his lips that he seemed to be eating twice as much as he really did.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
"This triggered the victim's memory and he immediately outcried to his parents."
From Chicago Tribune ● Jun. 27, 2014
"After the St. John's County Sheriff's Office investigated one of their own, my family outcried along with the public to get an outside investigation," Crites said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 24, 2014
In that announcement she outcried the stream, and through the comparative quietness that followed a hideous noise rumbled and shrieked upwards from the hollow.
From Moor Fires by Young, E. H. (Emily Hilda)
You've far outcried the latest cry— Out Monet-ed Monet.
From Songs Of The Road by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
How can I live to die some other tide, And, dying, hear my loveless name outcried About the portals of that weary land Whereby my shadowy feet should come to stand.
From The Earthly Paradise A Poem by Morris, William
There was a great outcrying and trembling of hearts at the farm-house when Donald and Elspie appeared in this sorry plight of torn and burned clothes, blackened faces, scorched and singed hair.
From Between Whiles by Jackson, Helen Hunt
It would die down for an instant, in response to these appeals, only to burst out afresh as certain groups of traders started the pandemonium again, by the wild outcrying of their offers.
From The Pit by Norris, Frank
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.
