crying

Etymology

cry + -ing

adj

1. That cries.
   The crying child on the street was evidently lost.
2. That demands action or attention.
   There is a crying need for more manual workers in this country.
3. That deserves rebuke or censure.
   It is a crying shame that he managed to get away with that!

noun

1. The act of one who cries; a weeping or shouting.
   Their constant cryings kept us awake!
   […] their breathings, cryings, and excretings would have been damaged […] 1848, The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal

verb

1. present participle and gerund of cry