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woo

[woo]

verb (used with object)

to seek the favor, affection, or love of, especially with a view to marriage. Synonyms: court, pursue, chase.

to seek to win: to woo fame. Synonyms: cultivate.

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. Synonyms: petition, sue, address, entreat; butter up.

verb (used without object)

to make love to a woman; court: He went wooing.

to solicit favor or approval; entreat: Further attempts to woo proved useless.

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Woo is one of our favorite verbs.

So is yaff. Does it mean:

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to bark; yelp.

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Origin:
before 1050; Middle English wowe, Old English wōgian

Related forms

woo·er, noun

woo·ing·ly, adverb

un·wooed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To woo

Example Sentences

Company has campaign to woo back colleges, but some educators say it's too little, too late.

But it is also because real-world agents woo customers by offering refunds for cancelled trips and generally going the extra mile.

Flowers evolved many colors to woo and nectar, an additional lure.

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Company has campaign to woo back colleges, but some educators say it's too little, too late.

But it is also because real-world agents woo customers by offering refunds for cancelled trips and generally going the extra mile.

Flowers evolved many colors to woo and nectar, an additional lure.

Male nursery web spiders often woo potential lady-friends with gifts wrapped in silk.

Both parties woo the amorphous middle, to the dismay of those voters who want political contours to be drawn sharply.

Breaking molecular bonds of hydrocarbons would not be any advantage except for the vendor of this bit of woo.

Umpqua is one of a few banks that woo customers by selling non-financial products as well.

Profepa concedes that turtle meat is also used by politicians to woo potential voters at campaign dinners.

But to build the new facilities they need, the two universities must woo large donors, too.

Woo was strangled the night before her body was found.

Sweden's great and good, ignoring traditional political divisions, are lining up to woo a euro-sceptic people.

Clearly, in order to launch a successful mobile platform, it's necessary to woo the powers that.

Merger-arbitrage funds must also woo hungry investors.

In the world of birds some species adopt similar aerial displays to woo their mates.

Instead, they have tried to raise more from fees and to woo new customers through aggressive.

Funds have also invested more in reporting systems to help woo investors.

The president faces crucial parliamentary elections next year and needs to woo voters.

It was set as low as it was to woo opponents of higher university fees, who feared they would put off poor students.

Intel has famously relied on branding to woo customers.

The real fight takes place inside the parties, in primaries where victory depends on moving to the extreme to woo the activists.

Majority-black districts tend to elect politicians who appeal to black solidarity but do not need to woo whites.

Few doubt that it will use all its skill and muscle to reduce prices and woo shoppers.

Iraq's overdue conversion to fully electronic banking should help woo investors from abroad and pep up the economy as a whole.

He needs to be a salesman and a preacher to woo consumers, employees and investors.

The former ruling party, it transpired, had embarked on a pre-election spending spree to woo voters.

Some banks try to woo the unbanked by offering free remittances or cheap cheque-cashing if they open a free cheque-book account.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

woo (wuː)

—vb , woos, wooing, wooed
1.	to seek the affection, favour, or love of (a woman) with a view to marriage
2.	(tr) to seek after zealously or hopefully: to woo fame
3.	(tr) to bring upon oneself (good or evil results) by one's own action
4.	(tr) to beg or importune (someone)

[Old English wōgian, of obscure origin]

'wooer

—n

'wooing

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

woo

O.E. wogian, of uncertain origin and with no known cognates; perhaps related to woh, wog- "bent, inclined," as with affection.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

woo

see pitch woo.