sing out

sing out (third-person singular simple present sings out, present participle singing out, simple past sang out, past participle sung out)

1. To cry out in pain.
   • 1848: The Autobiography of a Working Man, p. 285

     “But I have known men sing out dreadfully when punished; if they had got enough of rum, it would have supported them, and they would not have sung out.” “Not one drop for me, Charley Hunter; I shall not sing out, I promise you, if they cut me to pieces

   • 1848: Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, p. 134

     “My lad,” said Captain Cuttle, “don’t you sing out afore you’re hurt.

2. (nautical) To call out.
   • 1836: Richard Weston, A Visit to the United States and Canada in 1833, p. 9

     The pilot would sing out, “Ready about ship,” and the seamen would return answer, “Ay, ay, Sir,”—again he would sing out, “All ready,” and would be answered with “All ready, Sir.”

   • 1851: Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 36

     Vehemently pausing, he [Ahab] cried:—"What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?" "Sing out for him!" was the impulsive rejoinder from a score of clubbed voices.

   • 1854: Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, p. 143

     This was the first time I had taken a weather earing, and I felt not a little proud to sit astride of the weather yard-arm, pass the earing, and sing out, “Haul out to leeward!”

3. To start singing.
   • 1971: Pete Townshend, “The Song is Over”

     I’m gonna sing out: / I sing my song to the wide open spaces, / I sing my heart out to the infinite sea!

• Guintos, ousting, outings, outsing, sign out, sign-out, signout, tousing