The act of publicly criticizing or denouncing something or someone loudly and openly.
From Middle English, combining 'down' (intensifier meaning thoroughly or completely) and 'cry' (to shout or proclaim). The prefix 'down' added force to the notion of crying out, creating the sense of emphatic public denunciation.
This word captures a medieval and Early Modern English habit of adding 'down' to verbs to intensify their meaning—like 'downing' an enemy wasn't just defeating them, it meant thoroughly destroying them. You see this same pattern in 'downright' and 'downcast,' where 'down' meant absolute and complete.
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