▪ I. weep, n.
(wiːp)
Also 3 woep, weop, 3, 4 wep, 3–6 wepe, 6 weepe.
[f. weep v. Cf. wop.]
† 1. a. Weeping, lamentation. to burst a-weep: to burst out weeping. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 11991 Þe iherde þesne weop [cf. wop ibid. 5970, 15066]. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2328 He..broᵹte hem bi-for iosep Wid reweli lote, and sorwe, and wep. a 1300 in Anecd. Lit. (1844) 90 Al the blisse of thisse live Thou shalt, mon, henden in woep. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5721 For comunlych aftyr wepe, Fal men sone on slepe. 13.. K. Alis. 7871 (Laud MS.), Michel weep, mychel waylying. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 408 She bygan to brest a wep a-noon. a 1425 Cursor M. 10496 (Trin.) Whil she mened þus hir mone Wiþ wepe [other texts weping] & sorwes mony one. 1512 Helyas in Thoms Pr. Rom. (1828) III. 116 The which in weepe piteously bewayled her good spouse. 1545 Hen. VIII's Primer, Lauds C iij b, Deuout prayer, meynt with wepe, Suffreth not the hart to slepe. |
b. A fit or bout of weeping. Also the weeps: a fit of weeping or melancholy. Also transf.
Also in ‘Hence these weeps’, a burlesque alteration of ‘Hence these tears’.
| 1836 C. Shaw Mem. etc. (1837) II. 574, I had nothing else for it, but in the middle of the night to go aside and have a very hearty weep by myself. 1876 J. P. Struthers in Life & Lett. iv. (1918) 49 But those days are gone. Hence these weeps. 1886 Kipling Departm. Ditties, Mare's Nest 43 There was a scene—a weep or two—With many kisses. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 297 And Bob Doran starts doing the weeps about Paddy Dignam. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Let. 31 July in Coll. Ess. (1968) I. 280, I heard from Murry who seemed in the weeps about something. 1982 Medico-Legal Jrnl. L. 10 Leaving his Counsel to do what we call ‘The weeps’, i.e. to plead in mitigation of sentence. |
2. An exudation, percolation, or sweating of moisture.
| 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 213/2 Weeps which in iron would speedily be stopped by the natural operation of rust, go on in copper indefinitely, working their way like worms in wood. 1891 Century Dict., Weep, exudation, sweat, as of a gum-tree. 1901 Oxf. Times 2 Mar. 3/4 The water..did not come by any jets or spouts..but by simple oozes or weeps or whatever term they used to describe what took place. |
3. Comb.: † weep-drop, a drop of moisture like a tear; weep-hole, an opening through which water percolates or drips.
| 1509 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. li. Wks. (1876) 120 A mannes brethynge whan it toucheth ony thynge that is colde as yren or glasse, anone it is resolued in to wepe droppes of water. 1851 Colon. Mag. July 8 The water..filters through the red sand, running through ‘weep holes’ made of brick, into a reservoir. |
▪ II. weep, v.
(wiːp)
Pa. tense and pple. wept (wɛpt). Forms: inf. 1 wœ́pan, wépan, 2–3 wepen, (Orm. -enn), 3 weopen, 3–6 wepe, (3 weape), 4 wipe, weope, 3–4 wep, (5 wepyn, wape), 5–8 Sc. weip, 6 Sc. veip, vepe, 6–7 weepe, (7 weap), 7– weep. pa. tense 1 wéop, 2–4 weop, 3 weap, wiep, 3–4 wep, wop, 3–5 wepe, (4 weep, wip, 5 wippe); 3 wepude, 4 wepped, 4–5 weped, (4 wepid, wepet), 4–6 wepit, (4 weppit, 5 wepput, 6 Sc. weipit, vepit), 6–9 weeped, 4– wept. pa. pple. 1 wópen, 4 wopen, i-wope, 4 wepen; 4 wepid, 8 weeped; 4 ywept, wepte, 7 weept, 4– wept.
[A Com. Teut. vb., prob. originally weak, but in WGer. assimilated to the reduplicating conjugation: OE. wépan (pa. tense wéop) corresponds to OFris. wêpa to cry aloud (strong pa. pple. wêpin, -en), OS. wôpian to bewail (pa. tense weop), OHG. wuofan to bewail, pa. tense wiof (MHG. wuofen, pa. tense wief), also OHG. wuoffen, pa. tense wuofita (MHG. wüefen, pa. tense wüefte), ON. œ́pa (pa. tense œ́pta) to scream, shout (whence ME. epe v.), Goth. wōpjan to cry aloud, call; f. the OTeut. *wōpo- represented in OE. wóp masc., weeping (see wop), OS. wôp masc., lamentation, OHG., MHG. wuof masc., lamentation, ON. óp neut., cry. Outside Teut. no certain cognates are known.
The weak inflexion first appears in the 13th c., and became prevalent in the 14th.]
I. intr.
1. a. To manifest the combination of bodily symptoms (instinctive cries or moans, sobs, and shedding of tears) which is the natural, audible, and visible expression of painful (and sometimes of intensely pleasurable) emotion; also, and in mod. use chiefly, to shed tears (more or less silently).
In mod.English somewhat rare in non-literary use, being superseded by cry; recently a sense of the inappropriateness of that verb as applied to silent manifestations seems to have in some degree revived the colloquial currency of weep in the sense ‘to shed tears’.
| c 900 Bæda's Hist. iii. xiv. (1890) 198 He ongon wepan hluttrum tearum. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 75 And he eode ut & weop [Vulg. ploravit] bityrlice. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 43 Nu bi-gon paul to wepen wunderliche, and mihhal heh engel þer weop forð mid him. c 1205 Lay. 6650 Þer Elidur þe king weop [c 1275 wep] mid his eȝenen. Ibid. 18895 Þæ æremite gon to weopen. 1297 R. Glouc. 6924 Þe quene wepinde [v.r. wepude] wel sore, þe king ansuerede þis. a 1300 Cursor M. 14023 Þis womman [Mary Magdalene] wepand on his fete. 1340 Ayenb. 93 Ne þet ne is naȝt lyf of man ac of child þet nou wepþ nou lheȝþ. 138. Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 249 Þei shulden..wipe wiþ men þat wepen here. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 144 She was..so pitous She wolde wepe if that she saugh a Mous Kaught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 570 Scho wippe and hir hondis wronge. c 1450 Merlin ii. 30 And a-noon this othir [child] began to crye and wape. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 150 The tyme sall cum that he sall weip and murne. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 143 She..So hangs, and lolls, and weepes vpon me. 1610 ― Temp. iii. i. 74, I am a foole To weepe at what I am glad of. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 495 Sight so deform what heart of Rock could long Drie-ey'd behold? Adam could not, but wept. 1700 Dryden Sigism. & G. 578 Away, with Women weep, and leave me here, Fix'd, like a Man to die, without a Tear. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia iv. i, Mrs. Harrel..had shut herself up in her own room to weep and lament. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxx. v, ‘They rest’, we said,..And silence follow'd, and we wept. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 191, I could have wept like a child. |
b. said of animals.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1919) xxxii. 192 Þeise serpentes [sc. crocodiles] slen men & þei eten hem wepynge. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 282 Let the strucken Deere go weepe. 1612 Webster White Divel D 3, Here is a Stag my Lord hath shed his hornes, And for the losse of them the poore beast weepes. 1872 Darwin Emotions vi. 167 The Indian elephant is known sometimes to weep. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 361 Man..is..affected with the inclination to weep more than any other animal. |
c. Const. for, over, † on (a person or thing regretted or commiserated).
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 30 July 132 Þa weop eall Romana dugoð for þære dæde. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xxiii. 28 Nallað ȝie woepa ofer mec [Vulg. super me] ah ofer iuh seolfo woepað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 157 He iseh Martham and Mariam Magdalene þe sustren wepe for hore broðer deð. a 1225 Ancr. R. 312 He weop oðe rode, & o Lazre, & o Jerusalem. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4149, .xxx. daiȝes wep israel for his dead. a 1300 Cursor M. 1799 For þar misdedes wepe þai þan. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. ii. (1868) 35 Paulus..whan he hadde take þe kyng of perciens weep pitously for þe captiuitee of þe self kyng. 1382 Wyclif Luke xix. 41 He seynge the citee, wepte on it [Vulg. flevit super illam]. a 1450 Mirk's Festial 32 Þen for Ion segh mony wepe for hyr, Ion sayde to hyr: Drusyan, ryse vp. 1549 Compl. Scot. ii. 25 The prophet hieremye vepit for the stait of the public veil of babillone. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. i. 87 Weepe thou for me in France; I, for thee heere. 1601 ― All's Well i. i. 3 And I in going Madam, weep ore my fathers death anew. 1623 Cockeram iii. s.v. Crocodile, Hauing eaten the body of a man, it [sc. a crocodile] will weepe ouer the head, but in fine eate the head also. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 70 ¶8 Instead of weeping over the Wound she had received, as one might have expected from a Warrior of her Sex. 1803 M. G. Lewis Sir Agilthorne liv, They who can weep for others' woes, Should ne'er have cause to weep their own. 1827 Carlyle Ess., Richter (1840) I. 29 Like him we have long laughed at them or wept for them. 1833 Tennyson Two Voices 149 In some good cause..To perish, wept for, honour'd, known. 1855 ― Maud i. viii, An angel watching an urn Wept over her, carved in stone. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. lv, I knew by that time..how you had mourned for me, and wept for me. |
d. Const. for (the emotion that prompts weeping). Similarly with to and inf., or a that-clause.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6954 Þe bissopes þat hir ladde vor ioye wepe al so. a 1352 Minot Poems xi. 12 For wo will he wepe. 1375 Barbour Bruce xx. 237 Thar wes nane in that Cumpany That thai ne wepit for pite. c 1420 Anturs of Arthur 560 (Douce MS.) Thus wepus for wo Wowayne þe wighte. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iii. 12 A Iew would haue wept to haue seene our parting. 1593 ― 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 121 Henry weepes, that thou dost liue so long. 1593 ― Rich. II, iii. ii. 4, I weepe for ioy To stand vpon my Kingdome once againe. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To Daffadills 1 Faire Daffadills, we weep to see You haste away so soone. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 991 So saying, she embrac'd him, and for joy Tenderly wept. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 700 Maidens wave Their 'kerchiefs, and old women weep for joy. a 1806 H. K. White Solitude vi, I start, and when the vision's flown, I weep that I am all alone. 1865 Swinburne Chastelard iii. i. 104, I have wept for wrath Sometimes and for mere pain, but for love's pity I cannot weep at all. |
e. To call † on, cry or pray to with weeping. rare.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7822 He wep on god vaste ynou & criede him milce & ore. c 1460 Merita Missæ 105 in Lay Folks Mass Bk. 151 And how he dide for the weop To his fader on olywete. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Num. xi. 13 For they wepe vnto me, saying, Giue vs flesh that we may eat. 1845 Mrs. Norton Child of Islands (1846) 43 Then sweet St. Mary stands in her recess, Worshipped and wept to, as a thing divine. |
f. Phr. to weep one's fill or bellyful.
| a 1290 S. Eustace 193 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 215 Ich habbe I-wopen al mine fille. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John xi. 28–31 They folowed hir: suspectyng that..she woulde haue gooen to the graue, and there to wepe hir belly full. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. v. 113 Ile beare thee hence, where I may weepe my fill. |
g. Proverbial expressions.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. i. xi. (1867) 28 Naie good childe, better children weepe then olde men. 1616 T. Draxe Bibl. Scholast. 23 It is better that children weepe, then old men. |
| [1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 122 But man..Plaies such phantastique tricks before high heauen, As makes the Angels weepe.] 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xliii, To see a young fellow like that..only ripe for the gallows at five-and-twenty, is enough to make the angels weep. 1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob xii, Ye Gods! it is a sight to make the angels weep. |
2. Phrases. † to weep Irish: to weep unfeelingly, as a professional mourner weeps at an Irish wake. to weep with (or over) an onion: fig. to weep with feigned grief.
| 1586 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. viii. 44/2 in Holinshed, They follow the dead corpse to the graue with howling and barbarous outcries, pitifull in apparance: whereof grew, as I suppose, the prouerbe: To weepe Irish [orig. Hibernice lacrimari]. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet D iv b, Ile make thee to forget Bishops English, and weep Irish. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. xii. §15. 247 Surely the Egyptians did not weep-Irish with faigned and mercenary teares. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1305 To weep Irish, or to feign sorrow. |
| [1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 321 Mine eyes smell Onions, I shall weepe anon.] 1616 Withals' Dict. 557 Flere ad nouercæ tumulum, to weepe with an Onion. 1882 T. G. Bowles Flotsam & Jetsam 144 Here again is..the Vicomte weeping ruefully over the strongest onion that ever man sliced. |
3. a. Of the eyes: To shed tears.
| 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 16 And wowis vaine, quhilk thay did neuer keip, Sall gar thame gnasche thair teith, & eyis weip. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 59 (Qo. 1600) Titus, prepare thy aged eyes to weepe. 1780 Cowper Boadicea iii, Princess! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 'Tis because [etc.]. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxii, 'Twas an hero's eye that weep'd. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair viii, Her eyes are always weeping for the loss of her beauty. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxi. 85 Her innocent Eyes do weep to be going. |
b. fig. of the heart. (Cf. 6 b.)
| 13.. Adam Davy's Five Dreams 64 Myne herte wop for grete drede. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 163 The other sorte..Do make my harte wepe whan they come to my mind. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 335 My heart weepes to see him So little, of his great Selfe. 1796 Let. to Cowper in Jrnl. Friends Hist. Soc. (1918) 32 My heart wept for thee..with the tenderest solicitude for thy welfare. |
4. transf. a. Of things: To shed water or moisture in drops; to exude drops of water. Also, to waste away in drops.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden IV. 3 The preost.. seide þat þere come nevere reyn..; but the trees hadde i-wope in þe eclipses of þe sonne and of þe moone. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vii. 78 And there besyde ben 4 Pileres of Ston, that alle weys droppen Watre: and sum men seyn, that thei wepen for our Lordes Dethe. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. ix. 75 Clayes wepe Vncerteynly, whos teres beth right swete. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xv. 1 Ȝe Montaines, murne; ȝe valayis, vepe. 1603 G. Owen Pembrokesh. (1891) 78 In these buildinges you shall finde..all the walles of the house to be all weapinge and covered with streames of water. 1607 Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 168 When all our Offices haue beene opprest With riotous Feeders, when our Vaults have wept With drunken spilth of Wine. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 126, I saw..Women..waiting the distilling of Water from its [the tank's] dewy sides; which they catch in Jarrs, and..carrying it away, leave it only weeping. a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 23 If you lay dung on a sandy or rocky ground..it will be weeping away. 1732 P. Miller Gard. Kalendar (1762) 280 Where..resinous trees..require some of their branches to be cut off, this is the best season..for now they are not so subject to weep. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xxxv, The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xxvii. 501 The sky ceased to weep, and the vail of clouds was withdrawn. 1909 Engl. Rev. Mar. 617 Within the forest nought weeps save the rain. |
b. To issue in drops; to trickle or fall as tears. Also with out.
| 1596 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 58 The blood weepes from my heart, when I doe shape [etc.]. 1739 [S. Berington] G. De Lucca's Mem. (1738) 173 Gold..comes oftentimes in great lumps from the Mineral Rocks, as if it wept out from between the joints. 1828 Spearman Brit. Gunner 340 The water will continue to weep or run from the holes. 1884 Manch. Exam. 3 May 5/3 There would evidently have been some difficulty in keeping the tunnel clear of water, which ‘wept’ into the heading at the rate of 447 gallons a minute. |
| fig. 1847 Tennyson Princess vi. 251 Down thro' her limbs a drooping languor wept. 1872 ― Gareth & Lynette 213 Barefoot..The Lady of the Lake stood: all her dress Wept from her sides as water flowing away. |
c. Of a boiler, etc.: To allow small drops of water to percolate or trickle through; to leak in drops from a joint or rivet.
| 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. i. 11 Every rivet being tested not one of them was found to weep. 1869 Daily News 21 Aug., Nearly all new boilers ‘weep’ for the first few weeks. 1886 R. C. Leslie Sea Painter's Log 31 He will admit, ‘she veeps a trifle in her garboards’. |
d. Of a sore, etc.: To exude a serous fluid.
| 1882 W. Worc. Gloss., Weep, to run as a sore does. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 243 The fluid escapes just as any raw surface weeps. Ibid. VIII. 559 It [i.e. psoriasis] never weeps. |
e. Of certain explosives: to exude liquid (indicative of a dangerous condition).
| 1972 Guardian 9 Feb. 6/8 The freighter Autolycus..was ordered to leave the harbour..after her cargo of nitro⁓glycerine was found to be ‘weeping’. 1978 C. Egleton Mills Bomb ix. 91 Gelignite... Dangerous? Only if they were handling jelly that was beginning to weep. 1982 Times 6 Jan. 7/7 Stirring the loyalists up was like..playing with jelly that had been weeping for two years. |
5. To hang limply; to droop. Of a tree: To droop its branches. Cf. weeping ppl. a. 6.
| 1764 Churchill Gotham i. 285 The Willow weeping o'er the fatal wave, Where many a Lover finds a watry grave. 1830 Tennyson Dying Swan ii, One willow over the river wept. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 207 Young plants, raised from seeds of the Weeping Ash.., had a tendency to ‘weep’ in their first branching. |
II. trans.
6. To shed tears over; to lament with tears.
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. x. 61 Ðæt ðætte oðre menn unaliefedes dot he sceal wepan sua sua his aᵹne scylde. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxvii. 34 He..weop his sunu lange tide. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086 Oððe hwa is swa heard heort þæt ne mæᵹ swylces unᵹelimpes? a 1300 Cursor M. 1357 Þi fader sin now wepes he. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2928 Sche wepede weddyng,..ffor scheo had loued longe byfore þe kyng of Denmark. 1387 Trevisa Higden VIII. 95 Þe monkes come unneþe at þe laste, whan þey had longe i-wope [v.r. ywept] þe wrong of her violent out puttynge. 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye i. xii. 32 Many..by swetenes of the songe, ar styrred to wayle and to wepe theyr synnes. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 221 His fortunes I will weepe. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus v. N 2, Now they 'gin to weepe The mischiefe they haue done. 1697 Dryden æneis ix. 648 Nor was I near to close his dying Eyes, To wash his Wounds, to weep his Obsequies. c 1726 Savage Epist. to Dyer 54 My sympathizing breast his grief can feel, And my eye weep the wound I cannot heal. 1790 Cowper Castaway ix, No poet wept him: but the page Of narrative sincere..Is wet with Anson's tear. 1808 Scott Marm. v. xvi, A child will weep a bramble's smart. 1825 ― Talism. xvii, Edith, for whom he dies, will know how to weep his memory. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 50 Nor is it Wiser to weep a true occasion lost. 1860 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth lxxii. (1896) 209 The princess went barefoot to Loretto, weeping her crime and washing the feet of base born men. |
| fig. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Vertue i, Sweet day,..The dew shall weep thy fall to night, For thou must die. |
7. a. To let fall from the eyes, to shed (tears).
The object is freq. expressed by a synonym, as water, drop, brine, or a hyperbolic term, as flood, sea, rain, etc. to weep crocodile tears: to feign grief (see crocodile n. 2).
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 65 Þat þridde þing..is wop þe we for ure synnes wepeð. Ibid. 149 Swiche teares wiep þe holie spuse uppen hire spus. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 44 Þenne Ron Repentaunce and Rehersed þis teeme, And made William to weope watur with his eȝen. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 941 Sithen þat þow hast wopen [v.r. wepen] many a drope. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 33 Thou shin'st in euery teare that I doe weepe. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 84 When we vowe to weepe seas. 1612 Two Noble K. i. iii. 25 Women That have sod their Infants in..The brine, they wept at killing 'em. 1631 Milton Epit. March. Winchester 56 Here be tears of perfect moan Weept for thee in Helicon. 1667 ― P.L. i. 620 Tears such as Angels weep, burst forth. 1781 Cowper Hope 519 The wretch..Has wept a silent flood, revers'd his ways, Is sober, [etc.]. 1819 Keats Lamia ii. 66 She..wept a rain Of sorrows at his words. 1853 Mrs. Gaskell Ruth xxv, All tears had been wept out of her long ago. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxix, The eyes of Nero had to weep crocodile tears. |
b. fig. Of the heart, or a wound: to weep (tears of) blood.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1054 His soft flanke, whose wonted lillie white With purple tears that his wound wept, was drencht. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. ii. (1607) F 4 b, My heart Weepes bloud, in anguish. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iii. 49 His wound (yet sore) That grieu'd, it could weepe blood for him no more. ? a 1634 ? Chapman Rev. for Hon. iv. i. (1659) 48 My heart weeps tears of blood, to see thy age thus like a lofty pine fall. 1718 Pope Iliad xiii. 160 My heart weeps blood to see your glory lost! |
† c. to weep millstones: cf. millstone 2 b.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 245 Clarence. Bid Glouster thinke on this, and he will weepe. 1st Murderer. I Milstones, as he lessoned vs to weepe. [Cf. Ibid. i. iii. 354 Your eyes drop Mill-stones, when Fooles eyes fall Teares.] |
d. To declare, express, utter with lamentation. Also with forth. rare (chiefly poet.).
| 1599 Marston Ant. & Mel. v. (1602) H 3, Ile weepe my passion to the senselesse trees. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 559 Leontes opening his free Armes, and weeping His Welcomes forth. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 347 Both chain'd togeather..complaining and weeping their sorrowes to those walles. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia iii. ii, The poor woman wept her thanks. 1790 Cowper On Receipt Mother's Picture 31, I..drew A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu! 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 14 ‘My fault’ she wept ‘my fault! and yet not mine’. |
8. quasi-trans. with adv. or compl. a. in phrases expressing excessive or prolonged weeping; esp. to weep out one's eyes or heart.
| c 1290 St. Lawrence 40 in S. Eng. Leg. 341 That hadde so much i-wope That he weop out both is eiyene. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 99 O I could weepe My Spirit from mine eyes. 1630 Pathomachia v. iv. 44, I haue wept out mine Eyes for Griefe, I cannot read. 1688 Prior Ode Exod. iii. 14 viii, Weep out thy Reason's, and thy Body's Eyes. 1887 F. M. Crawford Saracinesca vi, It seemed unspeakably pathetic to hear her weeping her heart out. |
b. To bring (oneself, another, etc., into a specified state or condition) by weeping. Const. into, to, or with adj. complement.
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iii. 14 Why my Grandam hauing no eyes, looke you, wept her selfe blinde at my parting. 1605 ― Macb. iv. iii. 2 Let vs seeke out some desolate shade, and there Weepe our sad bosomes empty. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. l. 1 ‘And Joseph fell upon his fathers face’ as willing to have wept him alive again, if possible. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 108 Weeping her selfe into a stone fountaine. 1818 Shelley Rosalind & Helen 363 But now—'twas the season fair and mild When April has wept itself into May. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 116 She wept her true eyes blind for such a one. 1891 Temple Bar Dec. 600 Phil wept herself to sleep in her sister's arms. |
c. with advs. to weep (a thing) back: to recover it by weeping. to weep out: to remove, put out, extinguish, by weeping; also, to expend (one's life) in weeping. to weep down: to weep until the setting of (the sun).
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. i. 48 The sencelesse Brands will sympathize The heauie accent of thy mouing Tongue, And in compassion weepe the fire out. 1595 ― John iv. iii. 105, I lou'd him, and will weepe My date of life out, for his sweete liues losse. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. vi. 111 Men. Pompey doth this day laugh away his Fortune. Enob. If he do, sure he cannot weep't backe againe. 1606 Chapman Mons. D'Olive i. i, He like a mortified hermit clad, Sits weeping out his life. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xxvi. 453 As it is with the eye when anything offends it, it cannot leave twinkling and watering till it have wept it out. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxi. 240 Thus had their joy wept down the setting Sun. |
d. esp. to weep away: (a) to spend, consume in tears and lamentation; (b) to remove or wash away with tears of commiseration. (Said also of the tears.)
| (a) 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 115 Since that my beautie cannot please his eie, Ile weepe (what's left away) and weeping die. 1599 Marston Antonio's Rev. v. vi, Ile weepe away my braine In true affections teares. 1705 Addison Italy 2 Mary Magdalene..is said to have wept away the rest of her Life among these solitary Rocks. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 734 Nothing left But into some low cave to crawl, and there..weep my life away. |
| (b) 1762 Sterne Tr. Shandy v. iii, My father managed his affliction otherwise;..he neither wept it away, as the Hebrews and the Romans—or slept it off. 1823 Praed Australasia 262 And the mild Charity which day by day Weeps every wound and every stain away. |
9. To shed (moisture or water) in drops; to exude (a liquid, etc.). Also to weep forth.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 47 Ormus Iland, has no fresh water, saue what the fruitfull Cloudes weepe ouer her, in sorrow of her desolation. 1651 Biggs New Disp. ¶79 Celandin weepeth a golden juice. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 248 Groves whose rich Trees wept odorous Gumms and Balme. Ibid. ix. 1003 Skie lowr'd, and muttering Thunder, som sad drops Wept at compleating of the mortal Sin. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 328 Cut a vine in January..you shall find it weep forth a deal of insipid water. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iv. 35 The Knotted Oaks shall show'rs of Honey weep. 1705 Pope Spring 62 And trees weep amber on the banks of Po. 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. ix, Forgetful that its branches grew Where weep the heavens their holiest dew On Alpine's dwelling low. 1860 Tennyson Tithonus 2 The vapours weep their burthen to the ground. 1870 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. Dec. 514 The surface of the..integument had been weeping a bloody sanies for three days. |
▪ III. weep
obs. var. wype dial., lapwing.