solicit
Americanverb (used with object)
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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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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
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.
Solicit his help — and challenge him — by asking him to provide you with reasons to forgive him.
From Washington Post • Oct. 1, 2021
The hope: Solicit gifts, both big and small, to create a sustaining gift that can help both front-line health workers and their families get through this crisis.
From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2020
Solicit input on specific job postings from people in the department where the job is.
From Forbes • Sep. 2, 2013
Solicit feedback on the cheap by using online survey tools available through such services as Zommerang.com, Surveymonkey.com, and Constantcontact.com.
From Inc • Aug. 6, 2010
—There we Solicit pleasure, hopeless of success; Waste youth in occupations only fit For second childhood; and devote old age To sports which only childhood could excuse.
From Discipline by Brunton, Mary
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.
