Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cry uncle

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.21 in modern English

Syllables: cry un-cle
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To beg for mercy; to give up, admit defeat, surrender; indicate submission, such as when wrestling.

American usage; Colloquial

Example Sentences

"The Powels would serve strong punch and play loud music, and their parties ended when the last guest cried uncle, often a day and half after they began."
"“I said unconditional. It’s where they cry uncle or when they can’t fight any longer and there’s nobody around to cry uncle — that could happen too,” Trump said when pressed by the Guardian aboard Air Force One."

Etymology

Unknown. Uncle may be an anglicization of Irish anacal (“protection”).

Origin

Source language: Irish

Word Breakdown

Root: anacal

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

cries uncle (present, singular) crying uncle (participle, present) cried uncle (participle, past) cried uncle (past)

Frequently Paired Words

safeword

Synonyms

say uncle cry craven

Questions

What does cry uncle mean?: To beg for mercy; to give up, admit defeat, surrender; indicate submission, such as when wrestling.
Where does cry uncle come from?: It is traced to Irish.

How to pronounce cry uncle

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cry uncle”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cry uncle”.
Repeat and practice — Say “cry uncle” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.