Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A public clamor, as of protest or demand: raised a great hue and cry about political corruption.
- n. The pursuit of a felon announced with loud shouts to alert others who were then legally obliged to give chase.
- n. The loud outcry formerly used in such a pursuit.
Wiktionary
- n. historical The public pursuit of a felon; accompanied by shouts to warn others to give chase.
- n. by extension A loud and persistent public clamour; especially one of protest or making some demand.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Law) a loud outcry with which felons were anciently pursued, and which all who heard it were obliged to take up, joining in the pursuit till the malefactor was taken; in later usage, a written proclamation issued on the escape of a felon from prison, requiring all persons to aid in retaking him.
WordNet 3.0
- n. loud and persistent outcry from many people
Etymologies
- From the Anglo-Norman legal phrase hu e cri. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English hew and cri, partial translation of Anglo-Norman hu e cri : hu, outcry, clamor (from Old French huer, to shout, of imitative origin) + e, and + cri, cry (from Old French crier, to cry; see cry). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“At Lyons, we entered the Rhone, on our way to Arles le Blanc; and in the Rhone we came upon a castle called the Rock of Gluy, which the King had caused to be pulled down, because the hue and cry was out against Roger, the lord of the castle, for robbing pilgrims and merchants.”
“In the midst of decrees and persecutions, the Genevese had distinguished themselves by setting up a hue and cry with all their might; and my friend Vernes amongst others, with an heroical generosity, chose that moment precisely to publish against me letters in which he pretended to prove I was not a Christian.”
“A hue and cry went up, fueled by London and provincial news gazettes clear across the country.”
“It might just be possible, with help from Canaris 'Abwehr, to slip out of the country either to Sweden or Switzerland before the hue and cry went up.”
“For as soon as one of these creatures is forced to give up a position, he will try at once to wedge his way into the 'waiting-line' unless the hue and cry raised by the others prevents him.”
“Milton, busy with these occupations in his room looking out upon Lincoln's-Inn Fields, could not shut out the continued hue and cry after him on account of his Divorce heresy.”
“So long as I was a 'plebe,' no one anticipated any such dire calamity as that I would attend the 'hops,' but as soon as I became a 'yearling,' and had a perfect right to go, if I wished, there was a great hue and cry raised that the sanctity of the 'hop' room was to be violated by the colored cadet.”
“That in the hue and cry of nullification6 she sees pictured the great”
"Confederated Government," Speech of Thomas O. D. Walker, April 19, 1843
“Unfortunately, however, before the repast of sausages could be prepared, a hue and cry reached the place, that this gracious Representant was an impostor!”
A Residence in France During the Years 1792 1793 1794 and 1795
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hue and cry’.
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (H)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
haberdashery, hailstone, halcyon, halibut, halo, hamadryad, hammock, harangue, harbour, harebell, harlequin, harp and 104 more...
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Tautologies
Those combined phrases which duplicate, more or less, the sense.
hue and cry, fuss and bother, dig and delve, nook and cranny, prinking and pree..., toil and trouble, dribs and drabs, spits and spots, mop and mow, fine and dandy
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bobodod's Words
cultie, screwery, gauge, wanker, truthiness, harangue, mediocre, ragamuffin, elysian, spoonerism, loquacious, apostle and 240 more...
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wordn't-you-just-know-it
autopolyploid, stimthought, vandanbladderstiddle, word's eye view, ménagerie à trois, technonotice, bluebell, slanticular, ante-jentacular, splunge, turkish room, uxorial and 770 more...
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Words I See Primarily in Books About ...
furze, peat, turnips, Michaelmas, Candlemas, hunter's moon, harvest moon, banish, rampart, lest, ordure, market day and 74 more...
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Three by three
any day now, bet the pot, cha cha cha, cut and run, cut the rug, did the job, dog eat dog, for the win, get the axe, get the nod, hem and haw, hit and run and 15 more...
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select phrases
i was the shadow ..., all adam's apple ..., con favor de dios, picnic, lightning, trading futures, the vasty deep, i had not thought..., slack bastard, as beautiful as t..., french press, above suspicion, above reproach and 18 more...
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isoglossian's verbal reservoir
where classification begins~
retrospective fal..., kinetosis, umami, mise en abyme, self-similarity, ouroboros, zeugma, semordnilap, counterfactual, pas de deux, götterdämmerung, patternicity and 60 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hue and cry.
isoglossian Recently it has featured in M-W's Word of the Day, see here May 16, 2009
gangerh Also the name of a Scottish duo who among other songs had the haunting love song with the chorus
Violently
You came to me
Said I could be a different man, a different man
Violently
Your words hit me
And I broke gently into your hands
Wow! Jan 28, 2008
treeseed Merriam_Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: hue outcry
Date: 15th century
1 a: a loud outcry formerly used in the pursuit of one who is suspected of a crime b: the pursuit of a suspect or a written proclamation for the capture of a suspect
2: a clamor of alarm or protest
See also hue Jan 28, 2008