hue and cry

noun

Examples: hue and cry in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of hue and cry

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

3 : hubbub

See hue and cry defined for English-language learners

See hue and cry defined for kids

hue and cry was our Word of the Day on 04/17/2009. Hear the podcast!

Examples of hue and cry in a Sentence

There was a hue and cry in opposition to the film.
the hue and cry in the classroom when someone let loose a snake

Recent Examples of hue and cry from the Web

And the hue and cry has largely been over what a disservice the short is to viewers.

— michael cavna, ajc, "Here’s why that Olaf short film doesn’t work as a lead-in to ‘Coco’," 30 Nov. 2017
Not everyone raising the hue and cry about illiberalism has exactly this same list in mind.

— yoram hazony, WSJ, "There’s No Such Thing as an ‘Illiberal’," 4 Aug. 2017
The hue and cry that rose up completely blindsided us.

— mallory ortberg, Slate Magazine, "Prudie advises a letter writer who is fortysomething, wants to marry, but never likes a guy for more than a year.," 12 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hue and cry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Let's say it's the Middle Ages in England and a villainous highwayman has just made off with your purse of gold. What do you do? You can't call 911, or even the police, because in medieval England there was no organized police force (much less telephones). Instead, the job of fighting crime fell to ordinary citizens. If you were the victim of or a witness to a crime, you were expected to make a lot of noise - yelling something like "stop thief!" - and anyone who heard your "hue and cry" was legally bound to join in the pursuit of the criminal. Forms of the term "hue and cry" date from at least the 13th century and are first encountered in the Anglo-French legal documents of that period. Ultimately, it can be traced to the Old French words hue, meaning "outcry" or "noise," and cri, meaning "cry."