Topic: ILLNESS AND DISABILITY
| Language: | Old English |
| Origin: | wepan |
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weep
past tense and past participle wept
past tense and past participle wept
1 [intransitive and transitive] formal or literary to cry, especially because you feel very sad :
James broke down and wept.
James broke down and wept.2 used to say that you felt very disappointed about something :
I could have wept thinking what I'd missed.
I could have wept
spoken
I could have wept thinking what I'd missed.3 [intransitive]MI if a wound weeps, liquid comes out of it
—weep noun [singular]
WORD FOCUS: cry 
be in tears to be crying
burst into tears to suddenly start crying
break down (in tears) to suddenly cry a lot, after trying not to cry
sob to cry noisily, with sudden noisy breaths
weep especially written to cry a lot for a long time
bawl if a baby bawls, it cries very loudly
have tears in your eyes to be about to cry
your eyes water you start to cry, especially because you have been cutting up onions or there is a lot of smoke
➔ See also cry
