Wo

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Wo \Wo\, n. & a.
     See {Woe}. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Woe \Woe\, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D.
     wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve,
     Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. {Wail}.]
     [Formerly written also {wo}.]
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     1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
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              Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
              Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
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              [They] weep each other's woe.         --Pope.
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     2. A curse; a malediction.
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              Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of
              vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?
                                                    --South.
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     Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of
           sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." --Isa. vi. 5.
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                 O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
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                 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa.
                                                    xlv. 9.
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     {Woe worth}, Woe be to. See {Worth}, v. i.
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              Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
              That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W.
                                                    Scott.
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