cry foul
cry foul · cries foul · cried foul · crying foul
To protest about something which appears to be unjustTo protest about something which appears to be unjust.
» They cried foul and demanded an explanation.
frpzzd · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To protest about something which appears to be unjust.
Examples
2 sentencesThey cried foul and demanded an explanation.
The cries of the foul birds awoke the two sleepers, who stared about them in bewilderment.
Forms
cries foul, crying foul, cried foul, cried foul| Base form | cry foul · to cry foul |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | cries foul |
| Present participle | crying foul |
| Past simple | cried foul |
| Past participle | cried foul |
irregular
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.