battle cry

noun

plural battle cries

1

: a shouted word, phrase, or sound used by a body of fighters before or in battle : war cry

… the Texans later defeated the Mexican army …, securing Texas' independence from Mexico. "Remember the Alamo" was their battle cry.

—US Official News

2

: a slogan, catchphrase, or motto that is used especially to rally people to a cause or to rouse people to action : rallying cry

… the Senator … has selected the battle cry that his listeners will understand and respond to.

—William H. Grimes

She [softball coach Vickie Sax] added: "Our [team] battle cry all year has been 'All In!' …"

—Kevin Stevens

Its purpose is to find asteroids in orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth. "Find them before they find us!" is the Spacewatch battle cry.

—David H. Levy

Every graduate of Lincoln Elementary School for the past thirty-five years could remember standing at that table listening to Mrs. Granger's battle cry: "Look it up! That's why we have the dictionary."

—Andrew Clements

Examples of battle cry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Just over two years ago, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte won in landslide electoral victories on a campaign battle cry of national unity. —Jim Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2024

High above them, Elphaba sounds her battle cry and flies off into the distance. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2024

With 46 games to play, that might as well be the Giants’ battle cry. —Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic, 7 Aug. 2024

The sentence on Cafe Kestrel’s menu is the battle cry of the heroic rabbit Bigwig, shouted in righteous rage at the leader of the enemy tribe of rabbits, at the acme of the story’s great climactic battle. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1775, in the meaning defined at sense 1