Verb

(en verb)

To persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event.

to solicit alms, or a favour

* Alexander Pope

I view my crime, but kindle at the view, / Repent old pleasures, and solicit new.

Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?

To woo; to court.

To persuade or incite one to commit some act, especially illegal or sexual behavior.

* Milton

That fruit solicited her longing eye.

* Locke

Sounds and some tangible qualities solicit their proper senses, and force an entrance to the mind.

If you want to lose your virginity, you should try to solicit some fine looking women.

To offer to perform sexual activity, especially when for a payment.

My girlfriend tried to solicit me for sex, but I was tired.

To make a petition.

(archaic) To disturb or trouble; to harass.

To urge the claims of; to plead; to act as solicitor for or with reference to.

* Ford

Should / My brother henceforth study to forget / The vow that he hath made thee, I would ever / Solicit thy deserts.

(obsolete, rare) To disturb; to disquiet.

* Chapman

Hath any ill solicited thine ears?

* Dryden

But anxious fears solicit my weak breast.

Verb

(en verb)

To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XVIII:

And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?

* 1814 , (Jane Austen), (Mansfield Park) :

Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could better bear a subordinate situation.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained .}}

(obsolete) To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.

* 1722 , (Daniel Defoe), (Colonel Jack) :

he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.

(obsolete) To prevail, be victorious; to succeed.

* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.2:

“O daughter deare!” (said she) “despeire no whit; / For never sore but might a salve obtain [...].”

* 1701 , (Jonathan Swift), Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome :

This, though it failed at present, yet afterward obtained , and was a mighty step to the ruin of the commonwealth.

(obsolete) To hold; to keep, possess or occupy.

* 1671 , (John Milton), (Paradise Regained) , Book I:

His mother then is mortal, but his Sire / He who obtains the monarchy of Heav'n, / And what will he not do to advance his Son?

To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.

* 1908 , (Jack London), (The Iron Heel) , ,

Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain ; for the act in question was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.

* 1992 , (Neal Stephenson), (Snow Crash) , Bantam Spectra, p. 460,

But the hostage situation no longer obtains , and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now,