weep
verb /wiːp/
/wiːp/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they weep | /wiːp/ /wiːp/ |
| he / she / it weeps | /wiːps/ /wiːps/ |
| past simple wept | /wept/ /wept/ |
| past participle wept | /wept/ /wept/ |
| -ing form weeping | /ˈwiːpɪŋ/ /ˈwiːpɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] (formal or literary) to cry, usually because you are sad
- She started to weep uncontrollably.
- I could have wept (= I was sad enough to cry) thinking about what I'd missed.
- weep for/with something He wept for joy.
- weep at/over something I do not weep over his death.
- weep something She wept bitter tears of disappointment.
- weep to do something I wept to see him looking so sick.
- + speech ‘I'm so unhappy!’ she wept.
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsc1- He wanted to weep at the unfairness of it all.
- He was weeping, in effect, for a lost age of innocence.
- His grandmother was weeping uncontrollably.
- I felt I could have wept for joy.
- Several of the soldiers broke down and wept.
- She almost wept with happiness.
- The mourners followed the funeral procession, weeping and wailing.
- The people wept openly when his death was announced.
- We had wept over the death of our parents.
- weeping for someone who has died
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- quietly
- silently
- softly
- …
- begin to
- start to
- want to
- …
- at
- for
- over
- …
- break down and weep
- weep and wail
- weep buckets
- …
- [intransitive] (usually used in the progressive tenses) (of a wound) to produce liquid
- His legs were covered with weeping sores (= sores which had not healed).
- His legs were covered with weeping sores (= that had not healed).
Word OriginOld English wēpan (verb), of Germanic origin, probably imitative.