weep1
[weep]
- to express grief, sorrow, or any overpowering emotion by shedding tears; shed tears; cry: to weep for joy; to weep with rage.
- to let fall drops of water or other liquid; drip; leak: The old water tank was weeping at the seams.
- to exude water or liquid, as soil, a rock, a plant stem, or a sore.
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- to weep for (someone or something); mourn with tears or other expression of sorrow: He wept his dead brother.
- to shed (tears); pour forth in weeping: to weep tears of gratitude.
- to let fall or give forth in drops: trees weeping an odorous gum.
- to pass, bring, put, etc., to or into a specified condition with the shedding of tears (usually followed by away, out, etc.): to weep one's eyes out; to weep oneself to sleep.
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- weeping, or a fit of weeping.
- the exudation of water or liquid.
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Origin of weep1
before 900; Middle English wepen, Old English wēpan to wail; cognate with Gothic wōpjan to call, Old Norse æpa to cry out
Synonyms
See more synonyms for weep on Thesaurus.com1. sob; wail, lament. 4. bewail, bemoan, lament.
Antonyms
1. laugh, rejoice.
weep2
[weep]
- the lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, of Europe.
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Origin of weep2
imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for weep
Contemporary Examples
She did not weep on cue in public when Monteith died, or seek sympathy.
“For all the victims of the mindless wars, in every age, humanity needs to weep,” he said.
World leaders, and we, should look on them, be sickened, weep, and maybe finally learn.
“It is so expensive it makes me weep,” says Baum, the British oncologist.
But the laxity of the white church collectively has caused me to weep tears of love.
Historical Examples
Humans are funniest when they weep and tremble before, like you say, 'the facts in the case.'
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Then they will cease, and wives and mothers will come here to weep.
Ballads of a BohemianRobert W. Service
She did not weep: long ago she had exhausted the relief of tears.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
What is the matter with you, dear Angélique, and what misfortune makes you weep?
The Imaginary InvalidMolire
It may be that by-and-by you will not have tears enough to weep.
The DreamEmile Zola
weep
- to shed (tears) as an expression of grief or unhappiness
- (tr foll by out) to utter, shedding tears
- (when intr, foll by for) to mourn or lament (for something)
- to exude (drops of liquid)
- (intr) (of a wound, etc) to exude a watery or serous fluid
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- a spell of weeping
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Word Origin
Old English wēpan; related to Gothic wōpjan, Old High German wuofan, Old Slavonic vabiti to call
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
Word Origin and History for weep
v.
Old English wepan "shed tears, cry" (class VII strong verb; past tense weop, past participle wopen), from Proto-Germanic *wopjan (cf. Old Norse op, Old High German wuof "shout, shouting, crying," Old Saxon wopian, Gothic wopjan "to shout, cry out, weep"), from PIE *wab- "to cry, scream" (cf. Latin vapulare "to be flogged;" Old Church Slavonic vupiti "to call," vypu "gull"). Weeping willow (cf. French saule pleureur, German trauerweide) is recorded from 1731. The tree is native to Asia; the first brought to England were imported 1748, from the Euphrates. Replaced cypress as a funerary emblem.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper