From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwoowoo /wuː/ verb [transitive] 1 PERSUADEFRIENDto try to persuade someone to do something such as buy something from you, vote for you, or work for you – used in news reports the Party’s efforts to woo working class voters2 old-fashionedMARRY to try to persuade a woman to love you and marry you SYN court→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
woo• But Cassie was far too angry to be wooed.• For a certain period Mr Sammler lad resisted such physical impressions-being wooed almost comically by momentary and fortuitous sweetness.• When I woo her, as perhaps I mean to do, I shall be more than her equal.• Bosses defied the law to woo last-minute Christmas shoppers from Oxford Street rivals.• San Diego city librarians will not be the only suitors wooing the computer magnate.• Upon taking office, Chavalit, a former army chief, wooed the military to try to shore up his political power.• Colleges have been aggressively wooing the top African-American and Hispanic students.• Microsoft apparently put little effort into wooing them.Origin woo Old English wogian 