solicit
Americanverb (used with object)
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solicits,
present (3rd person singular)
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solicited,
past participle, past
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soliciting
present participle
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to seek for (something) by entreaty, earnest or respectful request, formal application, etc..
He solicited aid from the minister.
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to entreat or petition (someone or some agency).
to solicit the committee for funds.
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to seek to influence or incite to action, especially unlawful or wrong action.
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to offer to have sex with in exchange for money.
verb (used without object)
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solicits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
solicited,
past participle, past
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soliciting
present participle
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to make a petition or request, as for something desired.
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to solicit orders or trade, as for a business.
No soliciting allowed in this building.
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to offer to have sex with someone in exchange for money.
verb
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to make a request, application, or entreaty to (a person for business, support, etc)
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to accost (a person) with an offer of sexual relations in return for money
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to provoke or incite (a person) to do something wrong or illegal
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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solicitsimple
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solicitssimple
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have solicitedperfect
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has solicitedperfect
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am solicitingprogressive
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are solicitingprogressive
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is solicitingprogressive
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have been solicitingperfect progressive
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has been solicitingperfect progressive
Past
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solicitedsimple
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had solicitedperfect
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was solicitingprogressive
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were solicitingprogressive
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had been solicitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of solicit
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English soliciten, from Middle French solliciter, from Latin sollicitāre “to excite, agitate,” derivative of sollicitus “troubled” ( soll(us) “whole” + -i- -i- + citus, past participle of ciēre “to arouse”)
Explanation
Solicit means to ask for. It is what those people on the street are doing, when they ask, "Do you have a moment to talk about the destruction of the planet?" They are soliciting donations for their cause. Solicit has an official sounding impressiveness to it––doesn't soliciting donations sound better than begging for money? It can also have a more sinister cast. "When the teacher left the room, two girls solicited their friends to throw all the textbooks out the windows, injuring members of the cheer squad below — where they were soliciting signatures for a petition banning smoking in the football locker rooms."
Vocabulary lists containing solicit
Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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The Tragedy of Macbeth
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Monster
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
L.A. prosecutors said that Bacelar uses “misleading appeals” to solicit donations, often featuring photographs of dogs unrelated to the animals described in her solicitations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Airbnb will solicit applications from developers through the housing accelerator’s website.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
AFP does not solicit testimonies from unaccompanied minors nor identify them, under its ethical code.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
But it's rarer for police department-produced podcasts to focus on cold cases and solicit tips, as the California, Colorado and Illinois departments have done.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
No one had ever come to solicit their opinion on what should be done in their own country.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Chen solicits assistance from a hacker who owes him a favor, and from his own personal assistant, Jin, whose interest in her unmarried boss’s well-being is touchingly personal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Signage in Fabulosa talks up the program and solicits donations from customers, many of whom are transplants from more conservative parts of the country or visitors from such places.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
Many of the hacking cases I deal with as a consumer advocate started with phishing, a technique that solicits sensitive information by pretending to be a legitimate business.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
The board solicits checks online, but it’s not clear whether donors are vetted.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2024
Then he goes round among his friends and asks their subscriptions, and likewise solicits advertisements from his business acquaintances.
From Harper's Round Table, July 16, 1895 by Various
Alison Green solicited reader anecdotes about how their dogs-at-work policies have played out and considers the issue from all angles.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
China’s legislature solicited public feedback on an earlier draft of the bill late last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
A few months later, records show, Socolow solicited feedback from another member of BP’s management.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Kevin Juin solicited more than $2 million in purported loans to invest in a lingerie company, while funneling the money to personal accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
I passed the same taverns and amusement places where the hawkers had solicited me on previous evenings.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
"The sale of stolen goods, or soliciting them, is strictly prohibited on Vinted, and we have zero tolerance for it," a spokesperson for the company said.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Officials are actively soliciting proposals from operators willing to run the stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Said claims the other male crew members on the assignment joined in and tried to draw her into the conversation by soliciting her views.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
California bans non-attorneys from directly soliciting or procuring clients to sign up for lawsuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Mushie had gone from tenderly soliciting affection from Anastasia to standing on his hands and falling into her, running away, and shrieking his head off when she responded angrily, then starting all over again.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
