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:
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
However, I am connected to a doctor whose name was used to solicit contributions to a hospital.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Political Reform Act requires elected officials to disclose payments of $5,000 or more that they solicit or direct others to give to a charitable, legislative or governmental purpose within 30 days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Nobody called him to solicit his views of the world, or his predictions for the future, either.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The fourth is the National Research Council, a staff-run operation that solicits studies, recruits committees and produces reports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Two-days in-office gets a high-five, while three solicits a knowing shrug.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2025
Every business seems to have a fund; every social media channel solicits daily.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2024
The church’s corporate arm, the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solicits donations for humanitarian relief with promises that all donations are used to help those in need.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
The second class takes in the mail-order house, which solicits orders and delivers its coffee by mail, and sometimes by freight or express.
From All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers
Egan-Jones said it uses the same methodology whether ratings are private or public, solicited or unsolicited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
There was a catch: The doctor in question had no idea that funds were being solicited or contributed in her name — and she was incensed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
A few months later, records show, Socolow solicited feedback from another member of BP’s management.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
“When Mendenhall solicited funds from investors, he often made lofty promises about the returns these investors would receive,” Kehoe said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
A “little poor-looking insignificant Old Woman came in & solicited leave to go into the Country to buy some flour,” he later wrote.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Although dissents aren’t rare, Fed chairmen have often sought to project leadership by soliciting consensus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The university disclosed the issue this month in an urgent email soliciting tips about an “unexpected issue” affecting the course’s greens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
A firm spokesperson denied soliciting clients and said it was Orchid who had tried to use Henderson to illegally gather plaintiffs in the landfill cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
California bans non-attorneys from directly soliciting or procuring clients to sign up for lawsuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
But a family of people who were later freed said, “None did more valiant service, both by advice and actual soliciting for funds than their true friend and sympathizer, Paul Jennings.”
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions 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.
