These words all describe the inarticulate sounds and shedding of tears indicative of grief, pain or other strong emotions. Weep and cry are close synonyms and are often used interchangeably. Weep , however, is more often used in writing than in speech, and gives greater emphasis to the sounds, although, paradoxically, it may describe also the act of silently shedding tears.

• She wept copiously over the death of her dog; She cried loudly in despair; The child cried himself to sleep.

Cry does not always indicate depth of feeling; The baby cried loudly when he had emptied his bottle. Babies joy; to weep with joy; to cry with fright; to cry from exhaustion.

Sob and whimper describe different varieties of weeping . To sob is to weep with audible convulsive catches of breath and the heaving of one’s chest. Sobbing is usually accompanies by gaps and is akin to sighing. Sob , more than weep or cry , implies pathetic circumstances: The play ends with the heroine sobbing desperately as her lover resolutely walks away. To whimper is to cry or whine with plaintive broken sounds; whimper introduces the suggestion of defencelessness or timidity, and is most often associated with fright: a lost child whimpering for his mother. But the word can also criticize ill-humoured, unfounded or self-pitying complaints: those who whimper about high taxes.

Blubber and wail stress the sounds accompanying weeping. Blubber means to weep or sob noisily; the word reflects an attitude of ridicule or contempt on the part of the person using it, and is thus more abusive than descriptive, although in some contexts it may be used humorously to emphasize the inappropriate loudness of the weeping.

• I just blubber like a baby when I see a sad film; A child your age shouldn’t sit about blubbering over a lost toy.

Wail suggests a loud, unbroken, usually high-pitched cry . Wailing is traditionally associated with grief, and a wail is a formal cry of mourning. Nowadays, wail is most often used to describe any sad or melancholy sound, whether in grief or not. Otherwise it is used more informally, like blubber , as a term of contempt, implying a weak, self-pitying attitude: wailing as though he were dying every time he stubbed a toe.

All these terms are used also in the sense of conveying information while weeping , crying , sobbing , etc.

• "I have no home to go to," she wept ; He blubbered something about a package he’d lost.