Crying is the shedding of
tears in response to an
emotional state. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex
secretomotor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears from the
lacrimal apparatus, without any irritation of the
ocular structures". A related medical term is
lacrimation, which also refers to non-emotional shedding of tears. Crying is also known as
weeping,
wailing,
whimpering, and
bawling.