IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishraise a hue and cry
Meaning: To make a loud public protest.
Example: “Residents raised a hue and cry when the library was threatened with closure.”
Origin: In medieval English law, the "hue and cry" was the outcry that bystanders had to raise to pursue a criminal, set out in the Statute of Winchester (1285). The phrase comes from Anglo-Norman French.
Equivalents in other languages
French: À cor et à cri Literally: With horn and with cry
More English idioms
- have the inside track To have an advantage over others.
- a horn of plenty An abundant source of something.
- kicking and screaming Very reluctantly, protesting all the way.
- hands down Easily; without question.
- like a bolt from the blue Completely unexpected, usually of bad news.
- a road to Damascus moment A sudden, life-changing realization or conversion.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
Keep exploring