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. Hang on, my toddler just started crying her eyes out—I need to go check on her.

See also: cry, eye, out

cry one's eyes out

Fig. to cry very hard. When we heard the news, we cried our eyes out with joy. She cried her eyes out after his death.

See also: cry, eye, out

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. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cry your ˈeyes out

cry a lot and for a long time: My son cried his eyes out when we told him we couldn’t afford a new bike. OPPOSITE: laugh your head off

See also: cry, eye, out

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

cry

/say uncle Informal

To indicate a willingness to give up a fight or surrender: tickled my brother until he cried uncle.

cry (one's)

eyes/heart out

To weep inconsolably for a long time.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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).