Meaning & use
solicit
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To ask people for something such as money, advice, votes or support, often in a deliberate or organized way.
Grammar: Takes an object: solicit donations. The source is introduced by from: solicit help from neighbors.
Patterns
- solicit something from someone
- solicit someone for something
The charity will solicit donations from local businesses.
The manager solicited feedback from every member of the team.
Candidates solicit votes by knocking on doors.
verbtransitive or intransitivelegal
To approach someone in a public place and offer or request sex for money, which is a crime in many places.
Grammar: Can be used without an object: she was charged with soliciting.
Patterns
- solicit someone
- be charged with soliciting
The law forbids anyone to solicit in the street.
He was fined after police said he had solicited an undercover officer.
Word forms
| third person singular | solicits |
|---|---|
| past tense | solicited |
| past participle | solicited |
| -ing form | soliciting |
Common combinations
- solicit donations
- Volunteers solicit donations outside the supermarket.
- solicit feedback
- The company solicits feedback after every purchase.
- solicit opinions
- The editor solicited opinions from readers.
- solicit support
- She traveled the country to solicit support for the bill.
- solicit bids
- The city will solicit bids for the new bridge.
Synonyms and how they differ
- request
- Request is plainer and can be one polite ask, while solicit suggests a more organized or repeated effort.
- seek
- Seek stresses looking for something, and it does not always involve asking another person.
- canvass
- Canvass means going around to ask many people for votes or opinions, a narrower use.
- appeal for
- Appeal for carries an emotional or urgent tone, as when a charity asks for help.
Opposites
Word family
- solicitation noun
- the act of asking for something
- solicitor noun
- a lawyer in Britain, or someone who asks for money or business
- unsolicited adjective
- not asked for
- solicitous adjective
- showing careful concern for someone
Commonly confused: solicit or solicitor? solicit or solicitous?
solicit vs solicitor
In the UK a solicitor is a kind of lawyer; the verb solicit is the action of asking, not the job.
solicit vs solicitous
Solicitous means caring and attentive, which is different from the act of asking.
Practice
The school will ___ ideas from parents before changing the schedule.
Choose one answer.
To solicit ideas is to ask people for them. Donate and refuse do not mean asking, and forget makes no sense here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “solicit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.