woo

verb \ ˈwü \

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Examples: woo in a Sentence

Definition of woo

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

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 company is embracing content creation at every level to woo subscribers, from its reported $1 billion Lord of the Rings TV show to its increased spending on original audio content.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Amazon’s Audiobook Boom," 2 July 2018
To stay competitive, Michigan has spent much of the past decade trying to woo foreign investment from Beijing alongside longstanding investors from Japan, Europe and South Korea.

— New York Times, "Trump’s Trade War With China Pierces the Heart of Michigan," 12 July 2018
Los Angeles International Airport is trying to woo fliers with a $14 billion update that includes a $118 million ‘‘curbside appeal’’ project.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Barnes & Noble fires CEO for violating company policies," 3 July 2018
Belldegrun had tried to woo Schmidt away from Cowen in the past, unsuccessfully.

— adam feuerstein, STAT, "CAR-T startup Allogene Therapeutics picks up veteran analyst Eric Schmidt as CFO," 18 June 2018
McGee said every company the council tries to woo to come to Fairfield County talks about the congestion.

— kenneth r. gosselin, courant.com, "Home Prices Across Connecticut Have Failed To Recover Since Peak In 2007," 17 May 2018
The process has been criticized by some, who’ve said those cities, by offering tax breaks, financial incentives, and other perks to Amazon, were going too far in trying to woo the retail giant.

— don reisinger, Fortune, "Is This Area Atop Apple's Short List of Second Campus Choices?," 16 May 2018
Countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium are all trying to woo companies considering a move.

— Bloomberg.com, "It's Back to the 80s for Brexit-Hit Broadcasters Without Deal," 28 Mar. 2018
Even still, Kushner is expected to play a key role when bin Salman, a leader the United States has tried to woo for much of Trump's first 14 months in office, comes to the White House on Tuesday for a meeting with the President.

— dan merica, CNN, "Saudi prince's White House visit continues Kushner courtship," 20 Mar. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

woo Synonyms

Synonyms

ask (for), court, flirt (with), invite;

Related Words

angle (for), fish (for);

hunt, search, seek;

provoke, tempt;

Phrases

look for;

WOO Defined for English Language Learners

woo

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.