bawl

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
"Then we heard a bull give a short bawl, away off to the southward.

View all »
Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. intransitive verb To cry or sob loudly; wail.
  2. intransitive verb To cry out loudly and vehemently; shout.
  3. transitive verb To utter in a loud, vehement voice. See Synonyms at shout.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (6)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • She expected to be told to mind her business, but contrary to her expectations, Faith answered This is the saddest story,--all about a girl who loved one man and had to marry another Peace's nose curled scornfully, and she said, with great contempt, "I don't see any use in bawl--crying about that. —  At the Little Brown House
  • But a duke may bawl, and nobody shuts out him_; a prince might hop on one leg, and everybody would begin to hop too. —  Wisdom, Wit, and Pathos of Ouida Selected from the Works of Ouida
  • I shouted as loud as I could bawl, and then gave a cooey, which would reach further than any other sound. —  Adventures in Australia
  • Like a fool, although it might have been pleaded for him that he was constitutionally nervous, he let fall the dishes he was carrying on a tray, in his fright at the sight of this evidence of a conflagration below, instead of going quietly up to the captain and telling him what he had seen; and, to make matters worse, he called out at the same time in terrified accents, as loud as he could bawl--"Fire! —  The Wreck of the Nancy Bell Cast Away on Kerguelen Land
  • John! cries Trim, in an insolent Bravo, as loud as ever he could bawl--See here, my Lad! —  A Political Romance
 

Tags

bawl hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 154 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

slaw ·  faun ·  lowing ·  whirr ·  yawn ·  thaw ·  chitter ·  hoot ·  screech

Used in the same contextWord Family

bawl:   bawled ·  bawling
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English bawlen, to bark, from Medieval Latin baulāre, to bark (probably of Scandinavian origin) or from Old Norse baula, to low (of imitative origin).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also ball, baul, from Middle English bawlen, bark, prob. from Middle Latin baulare, bark (cf. Latin baubari, bark); cf. modern Icelandic baula = Swedish böla, low as a cow (Icelandic baula, a cow); cf. also Swedish båla, roar, German bailen, bark, and see bell, bellow, balk, etc., all prob. orig. imitative.
  2. from bawl, v.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/bɔl/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word several times a year.

Recently looked up

spammy · crostini · snorkel · fat · begins

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

ultimatum · pew · deadpool · sad panda · nom nom nom