Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To approach and speak to, especially aggressively or insistently, as with a demand or request.
  • transitive verb To approach and speak to with the intent of having sex.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of accosting; address; salutation.
  • To come side by side or face to face with; draw near; approach; make up to.
  • To speak to; address.
  • To border on; adjoin.
  • To adjoin; be adjacent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb obsolete To adjoin; to lie alongside.
  • noun rare Address; greeting.
  • transitive verb obsolete To join side to side; to border; hence, to sail along the coast or side of.
  • transitive verb Archaic To approach; to make up to.
  • transitive verb To speak to first; to address; to greet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To approach and speak to boldly or aggressively, as with a demand or request.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To join side to side; to border; hence, to sail along the coast or side of.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To approach; to come up to.
  • verb transitive To speak to first; to address; to greet.
  • verb intransitive, obsolete To adjoin; to lie alongside.
  • verb To solicit sexually.
  • noun rare Address; greeting.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb approach with an offer of sexual favors
  • verb speak to someone

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French accoster, from Old French, from Medieval Latin accostāre, to adjoin : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin costa, side; see kost- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

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  • Good Mistress Mary Accost.

    December 5, 2010