weep

[weep]

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verb (used without object), wept, weep·ing.

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.

verb (used with object), wept, weep·ing.

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.

noun

weeping, or a fit of weeping.
the exudation of water or liquid.

Origin of weep

before 900; Middle English wepen, Old English wēpan to wail; cognate with Gothic wōpjan to call, Old Norse æpa to cry out

Synonyms for weep

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1. sob; wail, lament. 4. bewail, bemoan, lament.

Antonyms for weep

1. laugh, rejoice.

weep

[weep]

noun British Dialect.

the lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, of Europe.

Origin of weep

imitative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for weep

moan, sob, wail, whimper, grieve, mourn, complain, howl, bemoan, bewail, lament, drip, bawl, squall, keen, snivel, yowl, blubber, deplore, ululate

Examples from the Web for weep

Contemporary Examples of weep

She did not weep on cue in public when Monteith died, or seek sympathy.
Why Does Everyone Hate Lea Michele?
Tim Teeman
October 9, 2014
“For all the victims of the mindless wars, in every age, humanity needs to weep,” he said.
Pope Francis vs. The Warmongers
Barbie Latza Nadeau
September 13, 2014
World leaders, and we, should look on them, be sickened, weep, and maybe finally learn.
To Truly Shame Putin, Show Us the Bodies of MH17
Tim Teeman
July 22, 2014
“It is so expensive it makes me weep,” says Baum, the British oncologist.
How Big Pharma Holds Back in the War on Cancer
ProPublica
April 23, 2014
But the laxity of the white church collectively has caused me to weep tears of love.
Alex Haley’s 1965 Playboy Interview with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Alex Haley
January 19, 2014

Historical Examples of weep

Humans are funniest when they weep and tremble before, like you say, 'the facts in the case.'
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Then they will cease, and wives and mothers will come here to weep.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
She did not weep: long ago she had exhausted the relief of tears.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
What is the matter with you, dear Angélique, and what misfortune makes you weep?
The Imaginary Invalid
Molire
It may be that by-and-by you will not have tears enough to weep.
The Dream
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for weep

weep

verb weeps, weeping or wept

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

noun

a spell of weeping

Word Origin for weep

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

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.