- 1[transitive] court somebody to try to please someone in order to get something you want, especially the support of a person, an organization, etc. synonym cultivate Both candidates have spent the last month courting the media.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
try to get - 2[transitive] court something (formal) to try to obtain something He has never courted popularity.
- 3[transitive] court something (formal) to do something that might result in something unpleasant happening to court danger/death/disaster As a politician he has often courted controversy. have relationship
- 4[transitive] court somebody (old-fashioned) if a man courts a woman, he spends time with her and tries to make her love him, so that they can get married He had been courting Jane for six months.
- 5be courting [intransitive] (old-fashioned) (of a man and a woman) to have a romantic relationship before getting married At that time they had been courting for several years. see courtship
court
verbNAmE//kɔrt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they court he / she / it courts
past simple courted
-ing form courting
Check pronunciation: court