*woe*

a. Woeful; sorrowful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His clerk was woe to do that deed. Robert of Brunne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. wā, interj.; akin to D. wee, OS. & OHG. wē, G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve, Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. &unr_;. √128. Cf. Wail. ] [ Formerly written also wo. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ They ] weep each other's woe. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A curse; a malediction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice? South. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow. “ Woe is me! for I am undone.” Isa. vi. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

O! woe were us alive [ i.e., in life ]. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Isa. xlv. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i. [ 1913 Webster ]

Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
That costs thy life, my gallant gray! Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. wo begon. See Woe, and Begone, p. p. ] Beset or overwhelmed with woe; immersed in grief or sorrow; woeful. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

So woe-begone was he with pains of love. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Woeful. [ Obs. ] Langhorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. 1. Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad. [ 1913 Webster ]

How many woeful widows left to bow
To sad disgrace! Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Bringing calamity, distress, or affliction; as, a woeful event; woeful want. [ 1913 Webster ]

O woeful day! O day of woe! Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Wretched; paltry; miserable; poor. [ 1913 Webster ]

What woeful stuff this madrigal would be! Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. In a woeful manner; sorrowfully; mournfully; miserably; dolefully. [ 1913 Webster ]