woe /ˈwo/
悲哀,悲痛,苦痛
Woe n. [Formerly written also wo.]
1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
[They] weep each other's woe. --Pope.
2. A curse; a malediction.
Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice? --South.
Note: ☞ Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of sorrow. “ Woe is me! for I am undone.”
O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa. xlv. 9.
Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i.
Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W. Scott.
Woe, a. Woeful; sorrowful. [Obs.]
His clerk was woe to do that deed. --Robert of Brunne.
Woe was this knight and sorrowfully he sighed. --Chaucer.
And looking up he waxed wondrous woe. --Spenser.
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woe
n 1: misery resulting from affliction [syn: suffering]
2: intense mournfulness [syn: woefulness]