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 deal includes a go-shop period through July 11 to solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 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
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
Every business seems to have a fund; every social media channel solicits daily.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 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
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
The FBI alleges that from February 2022 until they were arrested, Love and Chan fraudulently solicited money from women in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
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
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
“I called Goldman Sachs to ask them about Paulson,” said one rich man whom Paulson had solicited for funds in mid-2006.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
All the while, De Anda was soliciting donations from the public to run her rescue and continued to take in animals that she could not care for, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 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
California bans non-attorneys from directly soliciting or procuring clients to sign up for lawsuits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
His study aimed to clarify the ethical challenges of identifying, soliciting and even acknowledging patient donors.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Or had he joined the pack just as she had, by soliciting Amaroq for membership in his tribe?
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
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.
