woo

verb

ˈwü 

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

Synonyms

• invite
• seek

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

More recently, Fox has sought public records that related to the process by which Smartmatic was awarded its Los Angeles County contract in 2020, including efforts to woo Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2025

Meta, for example, is dishing out $100 million signing bonuses to woo top OpenAI researchers. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2025

The feature includes a memorable whirling montage of Stamp, who was naturally left-handed, showing off his swordsmanship to woo Christie on a hillside. —Rhett Bartlett, HollywoodReporter, 17 Aug. 2025

The announcement kicked of a six-month push to woo the Sundance selection committee. —Beryl Love, The Enquirer, 14 Aug. 2025

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

Phrases Containing woo

• woo-hoo
• woo-woo

Rhymes for woo

• blew
• blue
• boo
• brew
• chew
• chou
• clue
• coo
• coup
• crew
• cue
• dew

Kids Definition

woo

verb

ˈwü 

1

: to try to gain the love of : court

2

: to seek to gain or bring about

political candidates wooing public support