To raise a false alarm, to ask for assistance when you don't need it, and by extension, to exaggerate or lie. The phrase comes from the Aesop fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” in which a young shepherd found it amusing to make villagers think a wolf is attacking his flock.

What does the idiom to cry wolf meaning?

to keep saying that there is a problem when there is not, with the result that people do not believe you when there really is a problem. Workers in the industry have cried wolf once too often. Synonyms and related words. To tell lies and deceive people.

What is a cry of wolf called?

nounneedless alarm or worry. cry of wolf. dud.