Crossword Genius

Have a cry after bearing complete failure (4-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wash-out

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'have' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'a cry after bearing complete failure' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'cry' could be 'shout' (synonyms) and 'shout' is found in the answer.
'bearing' could be 'w' and 'w' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for wash-out that I've seen is " Failure - cancellation".)

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