crying havoc
Raising chaotic warning
Crying havoc means inciting chaos, violence, or destruction.
The phrase comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war." Historically, "havoc" was a military order permitting soldiers to plunder.
Now it describes unleashing disorder or sounding an alarm about imminent catastrophe: The editorial accused politicians of crying havoc over immigration.
- cryVocal expression of emotion
- unleashTo release from restraint
- dogs of warHired military fighters
- all hell breaks looseComplete disorder suddenly begins
- commandAuthoritative instruction given
war speech · pillage · battle cry · chaos · disrupt · mayhem · war cry · call to arms · plunder · reckoning · marauding · let slip · panic · Mark Antony · looting · sacking · Julius Caesar · provoke
war vs. peace
crying havoclaying down arms
Agreeing to stop fighting
standing down · making peace · burying the hatchet · demobilizing · de-escalating