cry out for
B2 neutral inseparable transitive
In simple words
When something or someone really, really needs something — it's obvious and urgent.
Literal meaning: To cry out (shout) while reaching for something urgently needed.
Meanings
1 B2
idiomatic
neutral
To be in obvious and urgent need of something; to require something desperately.
"This city's public transport system is crying out for investment and modernization."
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 neutral
Of a person: to urgently call or appeal for help, attention, or a specific thing.
"The survivors on the raft cried out for water as the rescue boat approached."
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Often used with an inanimate subject and an abstract object ('the situation cries out for reform'). This figurative sense is more common than the literal sense of physically crying out in need. Very effective for rhetorical or journalistic writing.
Commonly used with
reform attention change help justice explanation
Forms
Base
cry out for
I/you/we/they
3rd person
cries out for
he/she/it
Past simple
cried out for
yesterday
Past participle
cried out for
have + pp
-ing form
crying out for
continuous
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Synonyms
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