cheer

1 noun (C)

1 a shout of happiness, praise, approval, or encouragement: a cheer rises/goes up: A deafening cheer rose from the crowd as the band walked onto the stage. | give a cheer: Everyone gave a cheer when Gilmore crawled out of the wreck, unhurt.

2 three cheers for sb! used to tell a group of people to shout three times as a way of showing support, happiness, thanks etc: Three cheers for the birthday girl!

3 (U) formal or literary a feeling of happiness and confidence: Christmas cheer

-see also: cheers

4 (C) a special chant (=kind of poem) that the crowds at a US sports game shout in order to encourage their team to win

2 verb

1 (I, T) to shout as a way of showing happiness, praise, approval, or support of someone or something: Everybody cheered when the firemen arrived. | cheer sb: It says here that thousands packed the city centre to cheer her.

2 (transitive usually passive) to make someone feel more hopeful when they are worried: cheering news | Kerrie was visibly cheered when we finally saw a light in the distance.

cheer up phrasal verb

1 (I, T) to become less sad, or to make someone feel less sad: He'll cheer up if you get him a beer. | cheer sb up: I'm taking Angie out to cheer her up.

2 cheer up! spoken used to tell someone not to be so sad: "Cheer up, Mandy!" "Oh, I'm all right, really."

3 cheering up the act of trying to make someone feel less sad: need/want cheering up: Craig needs cheering up. What should we do? | All I want is a little cheering up.

cheer sb/sth on phrasal verb (T) to shout encouragement at a person or team to help them do well in a race or competition: They were behind by two touchdowns and she was still cheering them on!