The child scraped his knee badly and started bawling.
Tips
history
Echoes 《周易·同人》: 同人先号啕而后笑 — 'The companion first wails, then laughs.' One of the earliest classical references to loud weeping.
memory
号啕 (háotáo) is onomatopoeic — the drawn-out 'haaa-taao' sound of someone wailing. Both characters share the 口 (mouth) radical, reinforcing the meaning. Also written 嚎啕大哭 (variant).