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(American English) admit that you have been beaten or defeated: They’re determined to make the President cry uncle in the budget debate. Originally, this comes from children’s games in which the child has to say the word ‘uncle’ to admit defeat.
Cry uncle definition: . See examples of CRY UNCLE used in a sentence.
Feb 21, 2011 · There is no definitive history on the origin of the phrase, though there is plenty of speculation. The term, which is universally recognized as words that concede defeat (i.e., "I give up"), was ...
1. a. The brother of one's mother or father. b. The husband of a sibling of one's mother or father. 2. Used as a form of address for an older man, especially by children. 3. A kindly counselor. 4. Slang A pawnbroker. 5. Uncle Uncle Sam. Idiom: cry/say uncle Informal.
Cry-uncle Definition. (US, idiomatic) To beg for mercy; to give up; to ask to stop (something painful or unbearable). Anyone who doesn't cry uncle after the first week will probably last the season.
Nov 28, 1998 · This call by one child for another to submit or cry for mercy — which appears variously as say uncle!, cry uncle! or holler uncle! — is first recorded in print in the US early in the twentieth century. The Oxford English Dictionary ’s first example is from 1918, but I’ve found an instance in an advertisement in the Modesto News of ...
To admit defeat or plead for mercy, especially in an informal physical contest of some kind. The brothers often play fought, but it was invariably the younger of the two who had to cry uncle by the end. See also: cry, uncle. Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved. cry uncle. Also, say uncle.
