outcry

Etymology

From Middle English outcry, outcri, outcrye, equivalent to out- + cry. The verb is from Middle English outcrien.

noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A loud cry or uproar.
   His appearance was greeted with an outcry of jeering.
2. (figurative) A strong protest.
   The proposal was met with a public outcry.
   The Western Region has sought approval for the withdrawal of passenger services between Ashchurch Junction and Upton-on-Severn. There was a proposal to withdraw the trains as long ago as 1951, but an outcry from Tewkesbury that it would suffer as a tourist centre secured a reprieve. 1961 March, “Talking of trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 134
   This is a scorched earth policy, leaving Labour - which has made the right noises, but not loudly enough - with the job of picking up the pieces. Given the incoherence of the plans, the best hope is that the public outcry - even the Daily Telegraph is against them - delays them enough for a new government to rescue most of the ticket offices from closure, but this is no way to run a railway. July 26 2023, Christian Wolmar, “Closing ticket offices to lead to 'catch-22' for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 43
3. (India, archaic, countable, uncountable) An auction.
   to send goods to an outcry

verb

1. (intransitive) To cry out.
   I think any man who outcries against the power of the government in Germany soon ceases to cry at all, because he is crushed. 1919, Debates in the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, 1917-1918: Volume 1
2. (transitive) To cry louder than.
   […] outcrying the clacking of train wheels, the shrill of the whistle […] 2003, Melvyn Bragg, Crossing the Lines, page 355
   The dogs added their voices to the din, howling for hours, each trying to outcry the others. 2007, Anthony Dalton, Alone Against the Arctic, page 104