cry off

verb

To cancel something previously arranged with someone.

“Sorry, but I have to cry off the game on Saturday, as my mother-in-law is coming to visit.”

Similar
beg off
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Meanings

verbcry off (third-person singular simple present cries off, present participle crying off, simple past and past participle cried off)

present singular third person cries off · participle present crying off · participle past cried off · past cried off

  1. ambitransitiveTo cancel something previously arranged with someone.

    Sorry, but I have to cry off the game on Saturday, as my mother-in-law is coming to visit.

    1 more example

    "I—I am very sorry, Mr Carrados," stammered the curate, "but, after all, I am afraid that I must cry off. This week—" "If the distance takes up too much of your time, may I send a car?"

    1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
  2. intransitiveTo leave.
  3. intransitiveslangTo confess; to snitch or inform on (someone).

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
beg off
Also see
beg off
Cite this entry
APA

cry off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20off

MLA

“cry off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cry off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cry%20off.

Source: cry off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.