whore
- a person who engages in promiscuous sex 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
Examples from the Web for whoring
Contemporary Examples
For pre-20th-century women, in particular, whoring and marriage could be described as the two default positions.
Historical Examples
No, indeed; but, perhaps, we are much more given to whoring than our forefathers.
Ebrietatis EncomiumBoniface Oinophilus
For the expression is used that all Israel went a whoring after the ephod.
Judges and RuthRobert A. Watson
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own Inventions.
The Life and Death of Mr BadmanJohn Bunyan
The delight of whoring, stealing, defrauding, and blaspheming.
The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial LoveEmanuel Swedenborg
Not whoring, not drunkenness, not covetousness shall they be the ministrants of, but in all ways lead just and sober lives.
Woman under socialismAugust Bebel
whore
- 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
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for whoring
whore
v.
"to have to do with whores," 1580s, from whore (n.). Related: Whored; whoring.
whore
n.
Old English hore "prostitute, harlot," from Proto-Germanic *khoraz (fem. *khoron-) "one who desires" (cf. Old Norse hora "adulteress," Danish hore, Swedish hora, Dutch hoer, Old High German huora "whore;" in Gothic only in the masc. hors "adulterer, fornicator," also as a verb, horinon "commit adultery"), from PIE *qar-, a base that has produced words in other languages for "lover" (cf. Latin carus "dear;" Old Irish cara "friend;" Old Persian kama "desire;" Sanskrit Kama, name of the Hindu god of love, kamah "love, desire," the first element in Kama Sutra).
Whore itself is perhaps a Germanic euphemism for a word that has not survived. Some equivalent words in other languages also derive from sources not originally pejorative, e.g. perhaps Old French pute, perhaps literally "girl," fem. of Vulgar Latin *puttus (but perhaps rather from Latin putidus "stinking;" see poontang). Welsh putain "whore" is from French, probably via Middle English. Cf. also Bohemian nevestka, diminutive of nevesta "bride." And Dutch deern, German dirne originally "girl, lass, wench." Among other languages, Greek porne "prostitute" is related to pernemi "sell," with an original notion, probably of a female slave sold for prostitution; Latin meretrix is literally "one who earns wages" (source of Irish mertrech, Old English miltestre "whore, prostitute").
The vulgar Roman word was scortum, literally "skin, hide." Another term was lupa, literally "she-wolf" (preserved in Spanish loba, Italian lupa, French louve; see wolf). And of course there was prostituta, literally "placed in front," thus "publicly exposed," from the fem. past participle of prostituere (see prostitute). Another Old Norse term was skækja, which yielded Danish skøge, Swedish sköka; probably from Middle Low German schoke, which is perhaps from schode "foreskin of a horse's penis," perhaps with the sense of "skin" (cf. Latin scortum) or perhaps via an intermediary sense of "vagina." Spanish ramera, Portuguese ramiera are from fem. form of ramero "young bird of prey," literally "little branch," from ramo "branch." Breton gast is cognate with Welsh gast "bitch," of uncertain origin. Cf. also strumpet, harlot.
Old Church Slavonic ljubodejica is from ljuby dejati "fornicate," a compound from ljuby "love" + dejati "put, perform." Russian bljad "whore" derives from Old Church Slavonic bladinica, from bladu "fornication." Polish nierządnica is literally "disorderly woman." Sanskrit vecya is a derivation of veca- "house, dwelling," especially "house of ill-repute, brothel." Another term, pumccali, means literally "one who runs after men." Avestan jahika is literally "woman," but only of evil creatures; another term is kunairi, from pejorative prefix ku- + nairi "woman." The wh- spelling became current 16c. A general term of abuse from at least 13c. Whore of Babylon is from Rev. xvii:1, 5, etc.