Turn on the waterworks

The answer

BAWL

4 letters. See every clue for this answer on the BAWL answer page.

Used 16 times across 14 distinct years; most recently in 2025; first recorded in 2002. It appears in 11 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other answers for this clue

The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.

• CRY (32 uses in xd)
• SOB (14 uses in xd)
• WEEP (12 uses in xd)
• SHEDTEARS (1 uses in xd)

Other clues for BAWL

Every other clue in this collection answered by BAWL, most used first.

• Cry like a baby - used 57 times, most recently in 2026
• Cry loudly - used 35 times, most recently in 2026
• Blubber - used 27 times, most recently in 2026
• Weep loudly - used 25 times, most recently in 2025
• Sob - used 19 times, most recently in 2026
• Cry one's eyes out - used 17 times, most recently in 2026
• Have a good cry - used 16 times, most recently in 2026
• Wail - used 16 times, most recently in 2025
• Cry out loud - used 13 times, most recently in 2021
• Cry - used 10 times, most recently in 2025
• Weep and wail - used 9 times, most recently in 2016
• Cry hard - used 7 times, most recently in 2022
• Cry buckets - used 6 times, most recently in 2021

Related clues

Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.

• Up to the task - ABLE, used 397 times
• In the thick of - AMID, used 377 times
• On the briny - ASEA, used 364 times
• From the top - ANEW, used 355 times
• Spill the beans - BLAB, used 313 times
• Away from the wind - ALEE, used 282 times

Search the clue collection

Search by clue words or by answer, or type a pattern with the letters you have and a blank for each square you do not know. The characters _ ? . and - all work as blanks.