cry one's eyes out
cry (one's) eyes out
To cry for an extended period of time. Poor Jane really cried her eyes out during the funeral service. I can't watch those sappy movies because I just cry my eyes out every time.
See also: cry, eye, out
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
cry one's eyes out
Also, cry one's heart out. Weep inconsolably. For example, Wendy was so homesick that she was crying her eyes out, or At funerals Ruth always cries her heart out. [c. 1700]
See also: cry, eye, out
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
cry one's eyes out, to
To weep or mourn excessively. This hyperbole— how could weeping actually cause eyes to fall out?—dates back at least to the early eighteenth century. It appears in Colley Cibber’s 1705 play, The Careless Husband (1.1), “I could cry my eyes out,” and also in Jonathan Swift’s Polite Conversation (1738). In the nineteenth century it was sometimes altered to crying one’s heart out, especially in popular romantic novels such as Margaret Oliphant’s Joyce (1888).
See also: cry, eye
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- cry eyes out
- cry
- cry (one's) eyes out
- cry your eyes out
- cry your heart out
- cry (one's) heart out
- cry heart out
- cry like a baby
- cry over
- cry over (someone or something)