cry uncle

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

1. UScolloquialTo beg for mercy; to give up, admit defeat, surrender; indicate submission, such as when wrestling.First known use 19th c.

   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.

   1976, Geoffrey Wolff, Black Sun, New York Review of Books, published 2003, page 158

   1 more example

   “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.

   2026 March 8, Hugo Lowell, quoting Donald Trump, “Trump vague on Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’ as he refuses to rule out US troop deployment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: say uncle, cry craven