whore
a person who engages in sex acts for money; prostitute.
Disparaging and Offensive. a person who is sexually promiscuous.
a person who sacrifices personal principles or uses someone or something in a base or unworthy manner, usually for money: a greedy publicity whore.
to act as a whore.
to consort with whores.
to seek after something that is base or unworthy: those who practice idolatry and whore after other gods.
to put to a base or unworthy use (sometimes followed by out): He’s whoring out his skills by writing for popular magazines.
Obsolete. to make a whore of; corrupt; debauch.
Origin of whore
1word story For whore
The Germanic root is a regular development of the Proto-Indo-European root kā- “to like, desire” (extended with the same suffixed -r ). Kār- appears in Latin in cārus “dear, beloved, expensive,” and in the noun cāritās “love, affection, high price” (and through Old French, in charity meaning “Christian love”). Kār- appears in the Celtic languages as cara in Irish, and car in Welsh and Breton, all meaning “friend.” In Slavic (Polish), we find kurva.
The unetymological spelling, with initial w- (as also occurs in whole ), became common about 1600.
Nell Gwyn (1650-87), one of King Charles II’s numerous mistresses, made the best comeback ever recorded: When she was surrounded in her coach by a Protestant mob who thought she was Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth (1649–1734), a Catholic woman and another of King Charles’s mistresses, Nell leaned out of her coach and shouted down the mob with “Pray good people be civil, I am the King’s Protestant whore.”
Words Nearby whore
Other definitions for who're (2 of 2)
contraction of who are:Who're the people at the next table?
usage note For who're
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use whore in a sentence
When protesting with Women in Black or Peace Now, I might hear the words “whore!”
Knesset Member Calls for Jailing of Human Rights Activists | Emily L. Hauser | June 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAlthough the word is increasingly adopted by defiant sign-waving activists, "whore" has the power to hurt us at a deep level.
Thence back, putting in at Dr. whore's, where I saw his lady, a very fine woman.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel PepysThe production of The whore of Babylon marks the low-water mark of his unfortunate career.
Peace, you flead whore, thou hast a mouth like a Bloodhound, here comes a night-shade.
Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (8 of 10) | Francis Beaumont
Now consider what has been said, and Heaven give you Grace to put it in practise; that is to play the whore.
A Short View of the Immorality, and Profaneness of the English Stage | Jeremy CollierThe first that stood upon her Pantables, as being chief, was the whore, and thus it was she manag'd her Cause.
The London-Bawd: With Her Character and Life | Anonymous
British Dictionary definitions for whore
/ (hɔː) /
a prostitute or promiscuous woman: often a term of abuse
to be or act as a prostitute
(of a man) to have promiscuous sexual relations, esp with prostitutes
(often foll by after) to seek that which is immoral, idolatrous, etc
Origin of whore
1Derived forms of whore
- whorish, adjective
- whorishly, adverb
- whorishness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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