shed a tear

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛdəˈtɪə/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

shed a tear (third-person singular simple present sheds a tear, present participle shedding a tear, simple past and past participle shed a tear)

1. (idiomatic) To have a tear released, to cry (from sadness)
2. (UK, Ireland, slang, obsolete) To take a dram, or glass of spirits.
   • 1848, Thomas Frost, Paul the Poacher, page 118:

     Now, in coming down here, I journeyed part of the way with a jolly old cock, who shed a tear with me every time the coach stopped […]

Synonyms

• (cry): See also Thesaurus:weep

Related terms

• shed tears

Translations

to cry

• Bashkir: йәш түгеү (yəş tügew), илау (ilaw)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏦᏱᎭ (atsoyiha)
• Cheyenne: -a'xaame
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 流淚／流泪 (zh) (liúlèi)

• Cornish: devera dagrow
• Danish: fælde en tåre, knibe en tåre
• Finnish: vuodattaa kyyneleitä, itkeä (fi)
• Galician: lagrimexar (gl), chorar (gl)
• German: seine Tränen nicht zurückhalten können
• Greek:

  Ancient: δακρύω (dakrúō)

• Hungarian: könnyeket hullat (hu)
• Icelandic: fella tár, tárast (is)
• Jamaican Creole: cry eyewater
• Japanese: 涙を流す (なみだをながす, namida o nagasu)
• Latin: fleō (la)
• Ojibwe: mawi
• Old English: grēotan
• Ottoman Turkish: آغلامق (ağlamak)
• Polish: uronić łzę
• Russian: прослези́ться (ru) pf (proslezítʹsja), лить слёзы impf (litʹ sljózy), пролива́ть слёзы impf (prolivátʹ sljózy)
• Sanskrit: रोदिति (sa) (roditi)
• Ugaritic: 𐎁𐎋𐎊 (bky), 𐎄𐎎𐎓 (dmʿ)

References

• (take a dram): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary