battle cry

noun

plural battle cries

1

: a shouted word, phrase, or sound used by a body of fighters before or in battle : war cry

… the Texans later defeated the Mexican army …, securing Texas' independence from Mexico. "Remember the Alamo" was their battle cry.

—US Official News

2

: a slogan, catchphrase, or motto that is used especially to rally people to a cause or to rouse people to action : rallying cry

… the Senator … has selected the battle cry that his listeners will understand and respond to.

—William H. Grimes

She [softball coach Vickie Sax] added: "Our [team] battle cry all year has been 'All In!' …"

—Kevin Stevens

Its purpose is to find asteroids in orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth. "Find them before they find us!" is the Spacewatch battle cry.

—David H. Levy

Every graduate of Lincoln Elementary School for the past thirty-five years could remember standing at that table listening to Mrs. Granger's battle cry: "Look it up! That's why we have the dictionary."

—Andrew Clements

Examples of battle cry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Raw, rude, and a rejection of everything rock ‘n’ roll, Never Mind the Bollocks became the battle cry of U.K. Punk. —John G. Singer, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023

Some of Karol’s best songs are these kinds of battle cries — manifestos that don’t deny the hurt, but inch toward recovery and independence. —Isabelia Herrera, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2023

The pregame battle cry Antioch softball coach Nick Wisely came up with Thursday for his team’s Bay Valley Athletic League home game with longtime nemesis Heritage-Brentwood wasn’t original. —Mitch Stephens, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Apr. 2023

With that battle cry, Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro announced Mexico as the Country of Honor at this year’s Annecy, France’s preeminent animation film festival. —Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 9 June 2023

Yet unlike many progressives, Wolf’s battle cry is not to tear down institutions and topple those who run them. —Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2023

The other problem is the word itself, which has been a term of abuse employed by the far right, a battle cry for the progressive left, and an embarrassment to many liberals. —Ian Buruma, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2023

The Houthis, who the Trump administration branded a foreign terrorist organization, invoke a battle cry calling for destruction of America and Israel. —Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 14 May 2023

And that's always been the battle cry. —Dave Clark, The Enquirer, 14 Apr. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined at sense 1