woe

Definitions

1. 1.A curse; a malediction. Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice South. Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." Isa. vi.
2. 2.O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. Chaucer. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Isa. xlv.
3. 3.Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant gray! Sir W. Scott.
4. 4.Woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.] His clerk was woe to do that deed. Robert of Brunne. Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. Chaucer. And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. Spenser.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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• What does "woe" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is woe.

• What is o! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. Chaucer. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Isa. xlv called?
• What is woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant gray! Sir W. Scott called?
• What is woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.] His clerk was woe to do that deed. Robert of Brunne. Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. Chaucer. And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. Spenser called?