woo

play

verb \ˈwü\

Definition of woo

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

See woo defined for English-language learners

See woo defined for kids

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 of woo from the Web

The explicit aim is to give candidates an incentive to woo broad coalitions that cross party lines, rather than merely fire up hard-core partisans.

— The Economist, "Arnie lends some muscle to the campaign against gerrymandering," 22 July 2017
But there were also many more small changes, apparently calibrated to woo particular lawmakers.

— margot sanger-katz, New York Times, "A Legislative Easter Egg Hunt in the Health Bill," 15 July 2017
Travellers is trying to woo customers with cheaper movie tickets, food discounts and free parking.

— ian c sayson, Bloomberg.com, "Manila Casino Aims to Win Back Trust, Expand After Fatal Fire," 5 July 2017
A Clermont County hotel-tax hike designed to woo an FC Cincinnati training facility to Batavia has survived a battle to remove it from the state budget.

— jeanne houck, Cincinnati.com, "Clermont hotel-tax budget battle over but bruises remain," 30 June 2017
From the late 1970s, the elder Mr. Xi was a senior official in Guangdong Province, next to Hong Kong, and wooed cross-border investment by backing new special economic zones.

— chris buckley, New York Times, "Struggle for Control Underlies Xi Jinping’s Visit to Hong Kong," 28 June 2017
One interesting wrinkle that will set Facebook apart from others trying to woo Hollywood talent is that the company is willing to share its audience data, something streamers like Netflix closely guard.

— vanityfair.com, "Hollywood’s Real V.I.P. of Summer," 26 June 2017
One interesting wrinkle that will set Facebook apart from others trying to woo Hollywood talent is that the company is willing to share its audience data, something streamers like Netflix closely guard.

— rebecca keegan, HWD, "Hollywood’s Real V.I.P. of Summer," 26 June 2017
There was new talk among key GOP figures about wooing moderates by altering the bill’s Medicaid changes, according to two people involved who would not speak publicly.

— david weigel, Washington Post, "Senate Republicans face key week as more lawmakers waver in support for health-care bill," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'woo.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of woo

Middle English wowen, from Old English wōgian

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

WOO Defined for English Language Learners

woo

play

verb

Definition of woo for English Language Learners

: to try to make (someone) love you : to try to have a romantic relationship with (someone)
: to try to attract (someone, such as a customer, voter, worker, etc.) : to attempt to persuade (someone) to buy something from you, vote for you, work for you, etc.