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Glite Dictionary
to cry out for

to cry out for

26 4.1
To urgently need something
  • phrasal verb
  • /kraɪ aʊt fɔr/
translation icon : pedir a gritos
  • Villages and towns are crying out for highway bypasses so that local conditions will remain tolerable.
  • cries out for an explanation
  • cries out for a full investigation
  • cries out for immediate solutions

It is just something that cries out for more detention.

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Examples

  • Encountering death, he lost hope and cried out for the gods to save him.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Another subject that cries out for attention is sex trafficking, which now affects millions of people globally.

    Academic text (2004)

  • And then our world is crying out for more conscious leaders.

    Evan Carmichael

  • We see the homeless and the hungry... crying out for our attention.

    Kwoon (2004)

  • For as long as Mary could remember, she had heard her people crying out for rescue from Roman oppression.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Thousands of cities in America are crying out for relief from the burden of illegal immigration.

    Blog text (28)

  • For months people have been crying out for support, but month after month a distracted Downing St.

  • There's a big crazy world crying out for your help, and you're ignoring it.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Every day, helpless animals are abused, beaten, and neglected, and they're crying out for help.

    The Dog Lover (2016)

  • Every day, helpless animals are crying out for help from those who can save them.

Synonyms

to cry
vsto cry out for
230 5.6

To need quick attention because something is wrong

describes a personal state of urgent or desperate need rather than a situation
to cry for
vsto cry out for
3 4.1

To need something urgently

is a stronger, more desperate form of that urgent need

Antonyms

satisfied
38 1.0

Not hungry or thirsty after eating enough

enough
2 1.0

An amount that satisfies a need

How Urgent

to beg
417 1.0
to cry out for
26 4.1
to require
∞ 1.1
to need
∞ 1.0
to want
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

cry out for infinitive
cried out for past
cried out for past participle
crying out for present participle
cries out for third person singular

Morphology

cry + out + for

The meaning can be partly inferred from the constituents: 'cry' (to call), 'out' (audibly), and 'for' (directed toward), which together suggest calling or demanding something — a logic that leads naturally to urgent need. However, the leap from a literal vocal call to the idiomatic sense 'to be in urgent or desperate need' is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Cry out for comes from the picture of people cry out, shouting for something they urgently need, like water or help. That's why cry out for means 'to be in urgent need of something'.