to crow about
- phrasal verb
- /kroʊ əˈbaʊt/
- He tends to crow about his achievements, which annoys his colleagues.
- crowing about their victory
- much to crow about
Examples
-
And two less than you were crowing about; perhaps Romney is starting to cut into that lead?
Blog text (21) -
I too used to crow about how we should just eliminate the Commerce Department.
Blog text (15) -
What the administration is crowing about is jobs created by the private sector.
Blog text (21) -
How is it they can crow about their ratings and then pretend they are not part of the media?
Blog text (1) -
All right, you don't have to crow about it.
-
I honestly believe that most of the people who crow about math are not that good at math.
Blog text (9) -
In the same meeting, they crowed about growth in cigarette sales.
Blog text (13) -
And crowing about a poll that has you in single digits is a bit odd.
Blog text (4) -
The Israeli government is constantly crowing about the bands that play there; you've joined the list.
Blog text (28) -
Finally, it was only eight years ago that Karl Rove was crowing about a Republican majority that would last a generation.
Blog text (10)
Synonyms
To talk in a proud way about yourself or what you have
To talk proudly about your achievements to impress people
Show pleasure about your success or someone else's failure in a way that makes others feel bad
To say that something is better or more important than it really is
To say you are more important or successful than you really are
To talk proudly about things you have done
To act or speak in a proud, boastful way
To talk proudly about your own abilities or achievements
To talk proudly about your achievements to show off
To talk proudly about your success in public
To talk too proudly about yourself or what you have done
To brag about what you have done
Be unable to stop yourself from bragging about a success
Antonyms
How Boastful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to boast or talk proudly about something' is directly and transparently composed from 'crow' (to speak in a triumphant, boastful manner) plus 'about' (introducing the topic). This straightforward compositional pattern parallels equivalent constructions in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The verb crow about comes from the proud, loud call of birds such as roosters, because to crow is to make a noisy, showy sound. So when someone crows about something, they make a loud, proud show with words, which means 'to boast' and often annoy other people.