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.]
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   1. Grief; sorrow; misery; heavy calamity.
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            Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
            Sad instrument of all our woe, she took. --Milton.
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            [They] weep each other's woe.         --Pope.
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   2. A curse; a malediction.
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            Can there be a woe or curse in all the stores of
            vengeance equal to the malignity of such a practice?
                                                  --South.
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   Note: Woe is used in denunciation, and in exclamations of
         sorrow. " Woe is me! for I am undone." --Isa. vi. 5.
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               O! woe were us alive [i.e., in life]. --Chaucer.
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               Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! --Isa.
                                                  xlv. 9.
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   Woe worth, Woe be to. See Worth, v. i.
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            Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day,
            That costs thy life, my gallant gray! --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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