- accost
- transitive verb Etymology: Middle French accoster, ultimately from Latin ad- + costa rib, side — more at coast Date: 1597 to approach and speak to often in a challenging or aggressive way
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
accost
Look at other dictionaries:
Accost — Ac*cost , v. i. To adjoin; to lie alongside. [Obs.] The shores which to the sea accost. Spenser. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Accost — Ac*cost , n. Address; greeting. [R.] J. Morley. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Accost — Ac*cost (#; 115), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Accosted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Accosting}.] [F. accoster, LL. accostare to bring side by side; L. ad + costa rib, side. See {Coast}, and cf. {Accoast}.] 1. To join side to side; to border; hence, to sail along… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
accost — I verb address, adoriri, affront, ambush, approach, assail, assault, assault belligerently, attack, beset, compellare, confront, draw near, fall upon, rise in hostility before, set upon, strike at, thrust at, waylay II index approach, assail … Law dictionary
accost — (v.) 1570s, from M.Fr. accoster move up to, from It. accostare or directly from L.L. accostare come up to the side, from L. ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + costa rib, side (see COAST (Cf. coast) (n.)). The original notion is of fleets of warships… … Etymology dictionary
accost — *address, greet, hail, salute Analogous words: *speak, talk, converse: affront, *offend, insult Contrasted words: avoid, shun, elude, evade, *escape: ignore, slight, overlook (see NEGLECT) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
accost — [v] approach for conversation or solicitation address, annoy, bother, brace*, buttonhole*, call, challenge, confront, cross, dare, entice, face, flag, greet, hail, proposition, run into, salute, welcome, whistle for*; concepts 48,51 Ant. avoid,… … New thesaurus
accost — ► VERB ▪ approach and address boldly or aggressively. ORIGIN originally in the sense «go or lie alongside»: from French accoster, from Latin costa rib, side … English terms dictionary
accost — [ə kôst′, əkäst′] vt. [Fr accoster < It accostare, to bring side by side < VL * accostare < L ad , to + costa, rib, side] 1. to approach and speak to; greet first, before being greeted, esp. in an intrusive way 2. to solicit for sexual… … English World dictionary
accost — UK [əˈkɒst] / US [əˈkɔst] verb [transitive] Word forms accost : present tense I/you/we/they accost he/she/it accosts present participle accosting past tense accosted past participle accosted formal to stop someone and speak to them, especially in … English dictionary
accost — 1. verb /əˈkɔst/ a) To approach and speak to boldly or aggressively, as with a demand or request. She approached the basin, and bent over it as if to fill her pitcher; she again lifted it to her head. The personage on the well brink now seemed to … Wiktionary
