woe

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 ]