Cry, v. t.
1. To utter loudly; to call out; to shout; to sound abroad; to declare publicly.
All, all, cry shame against ye, yet I 'll speak. --Shak.
The man . . . ran on,crying, Life! life! Eternal life! --Bunyan.
2. To cause to do something, or bring to some state, by crying or weeping; as, to cry one's self to sleep.
3. To make oral and public proclamation of; to declare publicly; to notify or advertise by outcry, especially things lost or found, goods to be sold, ets.; as, to cry goods, etc.
Love is lost, and thus she cries him. --Crashaw.
4. Hence, to publish the banns of, as for marriage.
I should not be surprised if they were cried in church next Sabbath. --Judd.
To cry aim. See under Aim.
To cry down, to decry; to depreciate; to dispraise; to condemn.
Men of dissolute lives cry down religion, because they would not be under the restraints of it. --Tillotson.
To cry out, to proclaim; to shout. “Your gesture cries it out.” --Shak.
To cry quits, to propose, or declare, the abandonment of a contest.
To cry up, to enhance the value or reputation of by public and noisy praise; to extol; to laud publicly or urgently.
Down, adv.
1. In the direction of gravity or toward the center of the earth; toward or in a lower place or position; below; -- the opposite of up.
2. Hence, in many derived uses, as: (a) From a higher to a lower position, literally or figuratively; in a descending direction; from the top of an ascent; from an upright position; to the ground or floor; to or into a lower or an inferior condition; as, into a state of humility, disgrace, misery, and the like; into a state of rest; -- used with verbs indicating motion.
It will be rain to-night. Let it come down. --Shak.
I sit me down beside the hazel grove. --Tennyson.
And that drags down his life. --Tennyson.
There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world than a man who has written himself down. --Addison.
The French . . . shone down [i. e., outshone] the English. --Shak.
(b) In a low or the lowest position, literally or figuratively; at the bottom of a descent; below the horizon; on the ground; in a condition of humility, dejection, misery, and the like; in a state of quiet.
I was down and out of breath. --Shak.
The moon is down; I have not heard the clock. --Shak.
He that is down needs fear no fall. --Bunyan.
3. From a remoter or higher antiquity.
Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. --D. Webster.
4. From a greater to a less bulk, or from a thinner to a thicker consistence; as, to boil down in cookery, or in making decoctions.
Note: ☞ Down is sometimes used elliptically, standing for go down, come down, tear down, take down, put down, haul down, pay down, and the like, especially in command or exclamation.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. --Shak.
If he be hungry more than wanton, bread alone will down. --Locke.
Down is also used intensively; as, to be loaded down; to fall down; to hang down; to drop down; to pay down.
The temple of Herè at Argos was burnt down. --Jowett (Thucyd.).
Down, as well as up, is sometimes used in a conventional sense; as, down East.
Persons in London say down to Scotland, etc., and those in the provinces, up to London. --Stormonth.
Down helm Naut., an order to the helmsman to put the helm to leeward.
Down on or Down upon (joined with a verb indicating motion, as go, come, pounce), to attack, implying the idea of threatening power.
Come down upon us with a mighty power. --Shak.
-- Down with, take down, throw down, put down; -- used in energetic command, often by people aroused in crowds, referring to people, laws, buildings, etc.; as, down with the king! “Down with the palace; fire it.” --Dryden.
To be down on, to dislike and treat harshly. [Slang, U.S.]
To cry down. See under Cry, v. t.
To cut down. See under Cut, v. t.
Up and down, with rising and falling motion; to and fro; hither and thither; everywhere. “Let them wander up and down.” --Ps. lix. 15.