Word.ws English Dictionary

soliciting

soliciting is the present participle and gerund of solicit.

Meaning of solicit

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
    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...
  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.

See all 9 meanings of solicit

Noun

soliciting (plural solicitings)

  1. The act of one who solicits.
    • His wife added no timid solicitings to the advice of his well-wishers; for she saw he considered it his duty to remain, and be a sort of rallying point to the humble supporters of quiet and good order[…]1848, “A house and its three tenants”, in The Dublin University Magazine, volume 32, page 162

Forms of soliciting

pluralsolicitings

Questions about soliciting

What does soliciting mean?
Soliciting means the act of one who solicits.
What is soliciting the present participle and gerund of?
Soliciting is the present participle and gerund of solicit.
What part of speech is soliciting?
Soliciting is a noun.
What is the plural of soliciting?
The plural of soliciting is solicitings.

Words near soliciting in the dictionary

  1. solicitees
  2. soliciter
  3. soliciters
  4. solicitest
  5. soliciteth
  6. soliciting
  7. solicitings
  8. solicitor
  9. solicitor general
  10. solicitor generals
  11. solicitor-client privilege

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: soliciting (page history and authors); solicit (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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Cite this entry: “soliciting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/soliciting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.