bawl

1 of 2

verb

bawled; bawling; bawls

intransitive verb

1
: to cry out loudly and unrestrainedly
a sergeant bawling at his troops
2
: to cry loudly : wail
He lay on his bed, bawling uncontrollably.

transitive verb

: to cry out at the top of one's voice
"Get out of the car!" she bawled.
bawler noun

bawl

2 of 2

noun

: a loud prolonged cry : outcry
… political bawls and bellows about cattle prices …Time

Examples of bawl in a Sentence

Verb “Get in the car!” he bawled. he bawled for days after his dog died
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Checking in on the same day every year from 1988 to 2007, the series is blissfully nostalgic and left viewers obsessed and frankly, bawling. Lian Brooks, Glamour, 5 Mar. 2024 The Notre Dame-San Jose guard sat at the end of the bench, looked at the scoreboard and bawled her eyes out. Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2024 Once Marnie silenced the radio, Grover began to bawl. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024 Libera hid away in a room with parental chaperones and two close friends, bawling. Emily Latimer, Longreads, 25 Jan. 2024 In the emergency department, several dozen premature babies were bawling, videos showed and doctors said. Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2023 But Peter had written two scenes, one in the Scottish mountains and one in the hospital in Paris where Charles bawls, crying. Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 6 Dec. 2023 People take sides, people shout and bawl, people like or unlike the antagonists. Andrew O’Hagan, The New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2023 The little girl walked onto a plane and immediately ran off, bawling. Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2023
Noun
As the weekend’s big game approached, David Singleton could have staged his own super bawl. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2022 That night, Faris saw a woman near her bawl and wide-eyed grown-ups run. Washington Post, 21 July 2021 Distillers bury their faces in their hands and bawl after learning MLB’s winter meetings will go virtual. Nick Canepa Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Oct. 2020 Wilkins communicates differently — at a higher rate of notes per minute — peppering you with action before letting his tone disintegrate into a dry bawl. New York Times, 12 Mar. 2020 The new study is just one in a series of recent reports that reveal the centrality of crying to infant survival, and how a baby’s bawl punches through a cluttered acoustic landscape to demand immediate adult attention. Natalie Angier, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bawl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, to bark, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Icelandic baula to low

Noun

noun derivative of bawl entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1533, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1566, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bawl was in 1533

Dictionary Entries Near bawl

Cite this Entry

“Bawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bawl. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bawl

1 of 2 verb
1
: to shout or cry out loudly : yell
2
: to weep noisily
bawler noun

bawl

2 of 2 noun
: a loud cry

More from Merriam-Webster on bawl

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!