so·lic·it (s -l s t)v. so·lic·it·ed, so·lic·it·ing, so·lic·its v.tr. 1. To seek to obtain by persuasion, entreaty, or formal application: a candidate who solicited votes among the factory workers. 2. To petition persistently; importune: solicited the neighbors for donations. 3. To entice or incite to evil or illegal action. 4. To approach or accost (a person) with an offer of sexual services. v.intr. 1. To make solicitation or petition for something desired. 2. To approach or accost someone with an offer of sexual services in return for payment. [Middle English soliciten, to disturb, from Old French solliciter, from Latin sollicit  re, from sollicitus, troubled; see solicitous.]so·lic  i·tation n. |
Solicitation
dun To badger someone to pay a debt; to importune for payment of a bill; to make repeated and insistent demands; to pester or assail relentlessly. Another term of uncertain origin, dun dates from the 1600s. Tradition has it that a man named Joe Dun, a London bailiff in the reign of Henry VII, was so successful in collecting bad debts that his name became synonymous with the practice of pursuing someone to deliver payment. Dun can also be used in nonfinancial contexts meaning to harass, badger, or plague. Another version offers that the word is cognate with din and acquired its metaphoric sense from the raising of a great to-do until the debtor paid up.
I am so dun’d with the Spleen, I should think on something else all the while I were a playing. (Shuffling, Cutting, and Dealing, 1659)
fry the fat out of See EXTORTION.
panhandle To accost strangers on the street and beg money from them. Literally, a panhandle is the handle of a pan. Since the arm and hand project from the body somewhat like a handle from a pan, the act of holding one’s hand out to solicit money came to be known as panhandling. Similarly, one who employs such techniques is known as a panhandler.
The prisoners were members of a “panhandling” corporation which operated extensively throughout the district. (New York Evening Post, December 9, 1903)
pass the hat To solicit money, as for a charity; to take up a collection. It has long been the custom among minstrels and other street performers to collect contributions from the spectators by passing around a hat. In contemporary usage, hat has often become figurative, referring to any container into which people in a group or crowd are expected to put money. In fact, pass the hat is no longer limited to its original concept, i.e., voluntary payment for entertainment, and usually carries somewhat resentful or contemptuous implications, probably because of the subtle coercion involved.
It was easy enough to make the hat go round, but the difficulty was to get any one to put anything in it. (Charles J. Matthews, in Daily News, September 11, 1878)
put the acid on To pressure someone for a loan; to place excessive demands on someone; to coerce someone into granting a favor. This expression alludes to the destructive potential as well as the sharp, bitter taste of an acidic solution. Although the expression’s money-borrowing sense originated and is still used in Australia and New Zealand, the phrase is now applied in the United States and Great Britain to any situation in which an inappropriate amount of pressure is being exerted.
They want to shift the ship at seven. That puts the acid on us. (J. Morrison, in Coast to Coast, 1947)
put the bite on See EXTORTION.
work the oracle See MANIPULATION.
| Noun | 1. | solicitation - an entreaty addressed to someone of superior status; "a solicitation to the king for relief" appeal, entreaty, prayer - earnest or urgent request; "an entreaty to stop the fighting"; "an appeal for help"; "an appeal to the public to keep calm" beggary, begging, mendicancy - a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person) touch - the act of soliciting money (as a gift or loan); "he watched the beggar trying to make a touch" importunity, urging, urgency - insistent solicitation and entreaty; "his importunity left me no alternative but to agree" |
| 2. |  solicitation - request for a sum of money; "an appeal to raise money for starving children"petition, request, postulation - a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority whip-round - (British) solicitation of money usually for a benevolent purpose | |
| 3. |  solicitation - the act of enticing a person to do something wrong (as an offer of sex in return for money)enticement, temptation - the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire; "his enticements were shameless" |
The new measures are aimed at cutting back on intrusive telephone solicitations → Les nouvelles mesures sont destiné à limiter les sollicitations téléphoniques abusives.
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