woo [ woo ] SHOW IPA
/ wu / PHONETIC RESPELLING
verb (used with object)
to seek the favor, affection, or love of, especially with a view to marriage.
to seek to win: to woo fame.
to invite (consequences, whether good or bad) by one's own action; court : to woo one's own destruction. to seek to persuade (a person, group, etc.), as to do something; solicit ; importune . verb (used without object)
to seek the affection or love of someone, usually a woman; court: He was reminded of his youth when he went wooing.
to solicit favor or approval; entreat : Further attempts to woo proved useless.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Origin of woo First recorded before 1050; Middle English wowe, Old English wōgian; ultimate origin uncertain
OTHER WORDS FROM woo wooer, noun woo·ing·ly, adverb un·wooed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to woo cultivate ,
pursue ,
solicit ,
address ,
beg ,
caress ,
charm ,
chase ,
court ,
date ,
entreat ,
importune ,
propose ,
rush ,
spark ,
spoon ,
bill and coo ,
butter up ,
curry favor ,
go steady
How to use woo in a sentence That makes sense when you consider its CEO — Ben Kaufman, previously the chief commerce officer and chief marketing officer at BuzzFeed behind the brand’s buzzy forays into retail that further woo ed over millennials.
It could get worse if unrestricted free agent Romeo Okwara, the ninth-best pass rusher of 2020 per Pro Football Focus, is woo ed by another club.
Last privately valued at more than $1 billion, according to equity-tracker PitchBook, Symphony could be a handy add-on for a cloud company interested in woo ing Wall Street.
That might sound too woo -woo , too undisciplined to crack the sophisticated surface of a modern poem, but I found it takes a lot more discipline to withhold one’s judgment, to muzzle one’s consternation and simply let the lines work.
The terms were enough for a16z to win the deal against some tough competition, including Benchmark, which was also trying to woo Github at the time, as general partner, Peter Fenton, said recently.
Going northward would antagonize Iraqi Sunnis, whom Washington and Baghdad are currently woo ing.
But it was his younger brother Maurice who did the important work of woo ing and schmoozing the clients.
Forget a sensitive GOP, a nurturing GOP, a warm-and-fuzzy, women-woo ing GOP.
It will take significant woo ing in the brick-and-mortar world to lure them into the virtual one.
To compete with Netanyahu, Labor's calling for a "big-tent" party and is woo ing former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.
In starting out upon this simultaneous woo ing, you forget that Mr. Devenish has already had his turn this morning alone.
Talking of his woo ing afresh of Mrs. Lane, and of his going to serve the Bishop of London.
The river's song should have summoned up the vision of those living waters, and their woo ing, "Let him that is athirst come!"
Her thoughts were all secret; her heart was locked and bolted; and he stood without, vainly woo ing her with his eves.
Was Deuceace sincere in his professions of love, or was he only a sharper woo ing her for her money?
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British Dictionary definitions for woo
verb woos , wooing or wooed
to seek the affection, favour, or love of (a woman) with a view to marriage
(tr) to seek after zealously or hopefully to woo fame
(tr) to bring upon oneself (good or evil results) by one's own action
(tr) to beg or importune (someone)
Derived forms of woo wooer , noun wooing , noun Word Origin for woo Old English wōgian, of obscure origin
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with woo
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.