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:
But the restrictions only seemed to spur the outcry.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
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
It was snatched away and there was an outcry.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
When the airline shed its plastic boarding passes, or its row-facing-row lounge seating, there were minor outcries, Jordan said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
And despite these outcries, he’s in good shape to do so.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2024
After international outcries, the number of trucks entering has crept up, but it is still less than a third of what came in before the war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2024
It came as many police departments nationwide have changed the way they respond to certain calls, including those involving mentally ill people — in response to outcries over police killings.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
They lamented and tore their hair, the priests, as fraught and rhetorical as they were when they prayed, and after a few days their outcries made people uneasy.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
"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
You've far outcried the latest cry— Out Monet-ed Monet.
From Songs Of The Road by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
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)
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
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
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
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.