Woe \Woe\, n. [OE. wo, wa, woo, AS. w[=a], interj.; akin to D.
wee, OS. & OHG. w[=e], G. weh, Icel. vei, Dan. vee, Sw. ve,
Goth. wai; cf. L. vae, Gr. ?. [root]128. Cf. Wail.]
[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.'' --Isa. vi. 5.
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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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