cry for help

Noun

Meaning

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cry,‎ for,‎ help.
We heard the drowning woman's cries for help and ran to assist.

(idiomatic) Acting out as a means of displaying a subconscious desire for attention or help.
In her second year at the school Alexis stopped doing her homework and would often scribble on walls. Her teachers wondered whether this was a cry for help, or if she was simply misbehaving.

Source: en.wiktionary.org

Synonyms

mayday burglar alarm fire alarm distress signal

Examples

Every obnoxious act is a cry for help. Zig Ziglar

Fire will attract more attention than any other cry for help. Jean-Michel Basquiat

Nearly a hundred pictures are featured here. Each and every one of them a pathetic cry for help. Banksy

Christmas sweaters are only acceptable as a cry for help. Andy Borowitz

But the thing about a cry for help is that someone else needs to be around to hear it. David Levithan

For when the water is up to your neck you must be truly stubborn not to cry for help. Ludovico Ariosto

Close letter words and terms

cry cupboard cry down cry for cry for more cry foul cry from scrooge