Word.ws English Dictionary

solicit

/səˈlɪsɪt/

solicit verb: to persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event.

Verb

solicit (third-person singular simple present solicits, present participle soliciting, simple past and past participle solicited)

  1. (transitive) To persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event.
    • to solicit alms, or a favour
    • I view my crime, but kindle at the view,
      Repent old pleasures, and solicit new.
      Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    supplicate, thig
  2. (transitive) To woo; to court.
    • American railroads are not permitted to operate long-haul road routes, but the I.C.C. decision of 1954 did permit them to solicit trailer business in, say, New York for Chicago provided the trailer was piggybacked in between.1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 683
    Synonyms:
    address, romance
  3. (transitive) To persuade or incite one to commit some act, especially illegal or sexual behavior.
    • That fruit […] sollicited her longing eye.1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC...
    • Sounds and some tangible qualities fail not to solicit their proper senses, and force an entrance to the mind., Book II, Chapter 1
  4. (transitive) To offer to perform sexual activity, especially when for a payment.
    • My girlfriend tried to solicit me for sex, but I was tired.
  5. To make a petition.
    Synonyms:
    appeal, petition, request
  6. (archaic, transitive) To disturb or trouble; to harass.
  7. (transitive) To urge the claims of; to plead; to act as solicitor for or with reference to.
    • Should
      My brother henceforth study to forget
      The vow that he hath made thee, I would ever
      Solicit thy deserts.1628, John Ford, The Lover's Melancholy
    Synonyms:
    plead
  8. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To disturb; to disquiet.
    • Hath any ill solicited thine ears?1611-1615, George Chapman, Iliad, Book XVI
    • But anxious fears solicit my weak breast.1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 3
    Synonyms:
    worry

Noun

solicit (plural solicits)

  1. (archaic) Solicitation.
    • (1) How many male or female students are named (or otherwise identified) in the context of a solicit?
    • (2) How many words of a solicit are directed to a particular student?2017, Lia Litosseliti, Research Methods in Linguistics, page 19

solicit meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

solicit in Hindi

to persistently endeavor
याचना करना yācnā karnā

solicit in Tamil

பரிந்து அழை, பரிந்துரை, வருந்தி அழை, வேண்டி நில், வேண்டிக் கேள்

solicit in Urdu

مانگنا, سماجت کرنا, طلب کرنا

solicit in Bengali

অনুরোধ করা, প্রার্থনা করা, চাওয়া
More languagesFewer languages
solicit in Telugu
పడుచు paḍucu
solicit in Malayalam
അപേക്ഷിക്കുക, അഭ്യർത്ഥിക്കുക, ക്ഷണിക്കുക
solicit in Kannada
ಎರೆ, ಕೋರು, ಸೆಳೆ, ಬಿನ್ನವಿಸು

Examples of solicit in a sentence

  • In addition to her humblebragging, she also solicits engagement by emphasizing the relatability of her experiences.
  • The International Congress of Chasmology will take place in June in Paris, and papers are solicited now.
  • The tribunal did not formally invite the ROC to participate in the proceedings, nor did it solicit our views.

All 22 example sentences with solicit

Synonyms of solicit

All synonyms of solicit

Forms of solicit

Verb
third-person singular presentsolicits
present participlesoliciting
past participlesolicited
pastsolicited
alternative form (obsolete)sollicit
Noun
pluralsolicits

Past tense of solicit: solicited

Origin of solicit

From Middle English soliciten, solliciten, from Old French soliciter, solliciter, borrowed from Latin sollicitō (“stir, disturb; look after”), from sollicitus (“agitated, anxious, punctilious”, literally “thoroughly moved”), from sollus (“whole, entire”) + perfect passive participle of cieō (“shake, excite, cite, to put in motion”).

Words formed from solicit

Words that rhyme with solicit

Questions about solicit

What does solicit mean?
Solicit means to persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event.
What is solicit in Hindi?
Solicit in Hindi is याचना करना (yācnā karnā). See Solicit meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is solicit?
Solicit can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce solicit?
Solicit is pronounced /səˈlɪsɪt/.
What is the past tense of solicit?
The past tense of solicit is solicited.

Words near solicit in the dictionary

  1. solgels
  2. Solgen
  3. soli
  4. solianka
  5. soliankas
  6. solicit
  7. solicitant
  8. solicitants
  9. solicitate
  10. solicitated
  11. solicitates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: solicit (page history and authors); solicit (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); solicit (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); solicit (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పడుచు (Telugu) (page history and authors); solicit (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); solicit (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-solicit.ogg, en-au-solicit.ogg.

Cite this entry: “solicit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/solicit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.