court

Compared meaning: to try to win someone's love (verb).

比较义项：追求某人的欢心或爱情（动词）。

• court 本词

  Formal or literary in tone; describes traditional, deliberate romantic pursuit (visits, gifts, courtship rituals) and is almost always about winning one specific person's love.

  语气较正式，带文学色彩；指传统而郑重的追求行为（如拜访、送礼等求爱举动），几乎只用于赢得某一个人的爱情。

  In the old-fashioned custom, the young man courted her for two years, calling on her family every Sunday.

  按照那种老派习俗，那个年轻人追求她两年，每个星期天都去拜访她的家人。

• woo

  More versatile and modern; can describe pursuing romantic love, but is also commonly used for persuading people such as voters, customers or investors to support or help you.

  用法更灵活、更现代；既可指追求爱情，也常用于说服选民、客户或投资者等人给予支持或帮助。

  The mayor tried to woo local business owners with generous tax breaks.

  市长试图用丰厚的税收优惠来争取本地企业主的支持。

Court and woo both mean acting to win someone's love. Court is formal and old-fashioned, using traditional actions like visits and gifts. Woo is more modern, used for love but also for persuading people like voters. Court's noun sense, a law court, is not compared.

court 和 woo 都表示为博得某人的好感或爱情而采取行动，但 court 语气较正式、略显老派，多指传统式的追求（如殷勤拜访、送礼），几乎只用于恋爱语境；woo 的用法更灵活，除了追求爱情，还常用于说服他人提供帮助或支持（如拉拢选民、争取客户），语气更现代、更主动。这里不比较 court 作名词时表示“法庭”或“球场”的意思。