wooed; wooing; woos

transitive verb

1
: to sue for the affection of and usually marriage with : court
2
: to solicit or entreat especially with importunity
woo new customers
3
: to seek to gain or bring about

intransitive verb

: to court a woman
wooer noun

Examples of woo in a Sentence

The store had a sale in an effort to woo new customers. The company must find creative ways to woo new employees.
Recent Examples on the Web Washington promised incentives for domestic manufacturing through the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, successfully wooing foreign giants like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung, and LG to invest in the U.S. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 14 Mar. 2024 There’s a fundamental tension in Donald J. Trump’s attempts to woo Black voters. Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024 Upon switching to males, the fish take on a more remarkable color pattern — in order to woo their female counterparts. Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2024 As his Democratic opponents seized the last opportunity to woo voters, Garvey was at home in Palm Desert, visible to the public only through TV ads paid for by Schiff and his supporters. Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 So Paul assimilates into the Fremen world, learning to survive in the desert, ride the gigantic sandworms that populate it, and eventually gain enough local cred to woo Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen woman tasked with mentoring him. David Sims, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2024 Victor Talmadge is cloyingly solicitous as a local banker (and seemingly also pastor) offering dubious financial assistance and trying to woo Bobbie back to the local church. Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024 As a result, voters pressed for time to see even a fraction of that number are susceptible to Oscar campaigns, which these days range from live-to-picture concerts to an endless stream of screenings with Q&As, parties and events carefully designed to woo voters. Jon Burlingame, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024 Republicans on Capitol Hill are now being wooed to support a fiscal commission that many believe is designed to recommend federal tax hikes. Patrick Gleason, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'woo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English wowen, from Old English wōgian

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of woo was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near woo

Cite this Entry

“Woo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woo. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

woo

verb
1
: to try to gain the love of : court
2
: to seek to gain or bring about
political candidates wooing public support

More from Merriam-Webster on woo

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