to cry for the moon
Preserved but no longer current.
To crave for wfrat is wholly beyond one's reach, The allusion is £o foolish children who want the moon for 3, plaything. The French say, "He wants to take the moon between his teeth" (// veut prendre fa lune avec les dents), alluding to the old proverb about "trie moon," and a "green cheese.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to cry for the moon” mean?
To crave for wfrat is wholly beyond one's reach, The allusion is £o foolish children who want the moon for 3, plaything. The French say, "He wants to take the moon between his teeth" (// veut prendre fa lune avec les dents), alluding to the old proverb about "trie moon," and a "green cheese.
Is “to cry for the moon” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.