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accost definition

ac·cost (ə kôst′, -käst′)

transitive verb

  1. to approach and speak to; greet first, before being greeted, esp. in an intrusive way
  2. to solicit for sexual purposes: said of a prostitute, etc.

Etymology: Fr accoster < It accostare, to bring side by side < VL *accostare < L ad-, to + costa, rib, side

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

accost Synonyms

accost

v.

  1. To greet

    address, hail, call to; see greet.

  2. To solicit

    approach, waylay, confront, proposition*; see approach 1, solicit 3.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

accost Usage Examples

Object

  • passer-by: Here she got her living; she accosted passers-by with jokes and, mostly without request, received money.

Subject

  • man: According to The Mirror, the singer was recently accosted by a rather angry man whilst having a drink in a Los Angeles bar.

Modifying Another Word

  • immediately: The writer immediately accosted the seamen about the state of the ship.

Preposition: by

  • man: According to The Mirror, the singer was recently accosted by a rather angry man whilst having a drink in a Los Angeles bar.

Preposition: in

  • street: In 42 BC a VV was accosted in the street while returning from baths; afterward VVs were given lictors.
accost usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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"accost." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/accost>

APA Style

accost. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/accost

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