solicit Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently
    tap; beg.
    • Henry IV solicited the Pope for a divorce
    • My neighbor keeps soliciting money for different charities
  2. verb make amorous advances towards
    romance; woo; court.
    • John is courting Mary
  3. verb approach with an offer of sexual favors
    hook; accost.
    • he was solicited by a prostitute
    • The young man was caught soliciting in the park
  4. verb incite, move, or persuade to some act of lawlessness or insubordination
    • He was accused of soliciting his colleagues to destroy the documents
  5. verb make a solicitation or petition for something desired
    • She is too shy to solicit

WordNet

So*lic"it transitive verb
Etymology
F. sollicier, L. sollicitare, solicitare, -atum, fr. sollicitus wholly (i. e., violently) moved; sollus whole + citus, p. p. of ciere to move, excite. See Solemn, Cite.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Solicited; present participle & verbal noun Soliciting
Definitions
  1. To ask from with earnestness; to make petition to; to apply to for obtaining something; as, to solicit person for alms.
    Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? Milton.
  2. To endeavor to obtain; to seek; to plead for; as, to solicit an office; to solicit a favor.
    I view my crime, but kindle at the view, Repent old pleasures, and solicit new. Pope.
  3. To awake or excite to action; to rouse desire in; to summon; to appeal to; to invite.
    That fruit . . . solicited her longing eye. Milton.
    Sounds and some tangible qualities solicit their proper senses, and force an entrance to the mind. Locke.
  4. To urge the claims of; to plead; to act as solicitor for or with reference to. Obs.
    Should My brother henceforth study to forget The vow that he hath made thee, I would ever Solicit thy deserts. Ford.
  5. To disturb; to disquiet; -- a Latinism rarely used.
    Hath any ill solicited thine ears? Chapman.
    But anxious fears solicit my weak breast. Dryden.
    Syn. To beseech; ask; request; crave; supplicate; entreat; beg; implore; importune. See Beseech.

Webster 1913