cry for

cry for (someone or something)

1. To express a want or need through crying. I've been rocking the baby for an hour, but she's still crying for her mother.
2. To be in need of something. My hair is just crying for a trim—it's been too long since my last trip to the salon.
3. To cry over someone or something's departure or absence. Oh, don't cry for me—I'll be back home at the end of the semester.
4. To yell or call for someone or something. I cried for my dad as soon as I saw the flood in the basement.
See also: cry
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cry for someone or something

 
1. to weep for the absence or loss of someone or something. No need to cry for me. Take care of yourself. She cried for her lost cat.
2. to shout a demand for someone or something. She cried for help, but no one heard her. Tony cried for Walter, but he did not hear.
3. to cry or bawl, signaling the need or want for someone or something. (As done by a baby.) The baby cried for a bottle. Little Jimmy was crying for his mother.
See also: cry
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

cry for

Also, cry out for; have a crying need for. Be in urgent need of, as in This wall cries for a second coat of paint, or This car is crying out for a good washing, or There is a crying need for order in this house. The figurative use of cry for, literally meaning "implore" or "weep for," dates from the late 1500s, as does the use of crying for "demanding attention." The first variant, alluding to actually shouting out one's needs or desires, dates from the second half of the 1800s.
See also: cry
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • cry for (someone or something)
  • cry out for
  • cry out for (someone or something)
  • crying need
  • a crying need
  • for crying in a bucket
  • a crying shame
  • crying shame
  • crying shame, a
  • shame
References in periodicals archive
"Do Cry for Argentina, Say Exiles in Atlanta," Atlanta Journal and Constitution
"Italian Bankers Cry for Argentina," Business News Americas
"Don't Cry for Argentina: The Nation's Economy Is Weak, but Its Soccer Team Is as Rich as Ever," Ottawa Citizen
"Do Cry for Them, the Argentine People," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Don't Cry for Free Lunch, Argentina," Tampa Tribune
"Cry for Argentina, Not for Its Politicians," Financial Times
"Don't Cry for Argentina: The Country's Catastrophic Economic Woes Were Largely Self-Inflicted," Halifax Daily News
"Don't Cry for the Peso-Dollar Peg, Argentina," Independent
The garden of forking cliches. (Headlines)
Women in both countries were over three times more likely than men to cry for problems with your work, someone yells at you and feeling anger, and the differences seemed largely due to the particularly low rates of responsiveness by men.
146) noted that 'when individuals "cry for joy" it is usually a case of relief from tension or mingled feelings', and he offered weeping upon reunion as an example, as did Borgquist (1906, p.
The women were as likely to cry for work problems and angry confrontations as they were for feelings of being alone, sad or helpless.
Crying, weeping or tearfulness in British and Israeli adults
NEWBORNS: Very young babies cry for food, so feed them before they wake up crying, says Chireal Shallow, founder of Naturally Nurturing.
BODYTALK: Is crying bad for babies? Let babies wail or pick them up at the first whimper? We find sensible advice for harassed parents
Often crying occurs in the late afternoon or early evening, when your baby may cry for as long as half an hour.
Relax, baby's having a bawl; Our weekly advice page. Today: Coping with a crying infant; Lots of love will save the wails