Phrase guide

battle cry

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈbæ.təlˌkɹaɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An exclamation troops yell out when going to war or battle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, military, politics, war

Examples

  • Near-synonym: rallying cry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: war cry, rallying cry

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A strong motto or purpose statement, especially in regards to winning a goal in sports, games or work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a yell intended to rally a group of soldiers in battle

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: war cry, war whoop, rallying cry

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cry, outcry, call, yell, shout, vociferation

4

noun

Meaning 4

a slogan used to rally support for a cause

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a cry to arms
  • our watchword will be `democracy'

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: war cry, rallying cry, cry, watchword

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: motto, slogan, catchword, shibboleth

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

71 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شِعَار (šiʕār) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Armenian: մարտակոչ (martakočʻ) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Bashkir: оран (oran) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Belarusian: баявы́ кліч (bajavý klič) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Breton: lugan — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Bulgarian: бо́ен вик (bóen vik) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Catalan: crit de guerra — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 喊殺聲 /喊杀声 (hǎnshāshēng) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 吶喊聲 /呐喊声 (nàhǎnshēng) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Cornish: garm vresel — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Danish: kampråb — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Danish: krigsråb — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Dutch: strijdkreet — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Dutch: wapenkreet — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Dutch: oorlogskreet — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Dutch: aanvalskreet — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Egyptian: h-m-h-m*t-A2 (hmhmt) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Finnish: sotahuuto — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • French: cri de guerre — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Galician: apelido — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Galician: grito de guerra — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • German: Schlachtruf — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • German: Kampfruf — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • German: Schlachtgeschrei — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • German: Feldgeschrei — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Greek: ιαχή (iachí) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Ancient Greek: βοή (boḗ) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Ancient Greek: ἀϋτή (aütḗ) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Hindi: युद्ध घोष (yuddh ghoṣ) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Hungarian: csatakiáltás — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Italian: grido di battaglia — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Italian: grido di guerra — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Japanese: 喊声 (kansei) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Japanese: 鬨 (toki) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Japanese: 鬨の声 (toki no koe) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Korean: 함성 (hamseong) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Korean: 기합 (gihap) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Korean: 표어 (pyoeo) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Korean: 슬로건 (seullogeon) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Lithuanian: karo šūkis — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Malay: laungan perang — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Malay: semboyan — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Polish: okrzyk bojowy — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Portuguese: grito de guerra — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Russian: боево́й клич (bojevój klič) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Sanskrit: क्रन्दस् (krandas) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Scottish Gaelic: sluagh-ghairm — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Serbo-Croatian: бо̑јнӣ по̏клӣч — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Serbo-Croatian: bȏjnī pȍklīč — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Spanish: grito de guerra — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Swedish: stridsrop — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Swedish: härskri — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Tagalog: siglaban — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Turkish: savaş narası — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Ukrainian: бойови́й клич (bojovýj klyč) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Ukrainian: бойови́й ви́гук (bojovýj výhuk) — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Volapük: krigavokäd — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Volapük: krigaluvokäd — something the troops yell out when going to war or battle
  • Chinese Mandarin: 口號 /口号 (kǒuhào) — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: kampråb — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: slogan — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: feltråb — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: slagord — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: parole — motto or personal statement
  • Danish: motto — motto or personal statement
  • Finnish: taisteluhuuto — motto or personal statement
  • Malay: semboyan — motto or personal statement
  • Polish: slogan — motto or personal statement
  • Polish: hasło — motto or personal statement
  • Portuguese: grito de guerra — motto or personal statement
  • Swedish: stridsrop — motto or personal statement