whore

Etymology

From Middle English hore, from Old English hōre, from Proto-Germanic *hōrǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros (“loved”), from *keh₂- (“to wish; desire”). Cognate with Latin cārus, Polish kurwa, German Hure.

noun

1. (derogatory) Synonym of prostitute: a person (especially a woman) who offers sexual services for payment.
   I come looking for a job But I get no offers Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records
2. (vulgar, derogatory) A person who is sexually promiscuous; a slut.
   So after he fucks the shit out of me, he tells me I'm lying about his whore not being Brad. 2004, Dennis Cooper, The Sluts, page 250
3. (vulgar, derogatory) A person who is unscrupulous, especially one who compromises their principles for gain.
4. (vulgar, derogatory) A person who will violate behavioral standards to achieve something desired.
   Vidal is at once more detached and more preoccupied with his own view, celebrating an aristocracy of sensibility constantly thwarted and ignored by those mere whores after fame, the statesmen and politicians. 1982, Daniel Hoffman, Leo Braudy, Harvard guide to contemporary American writing
   By that time, Tejeda had already been accused of beating his wife, abandoning his children, living in sin with another woman, being a whore for the insurance lobby, and accepting bribes. 1990 June, Mother Jones Magazine, volume 15, number 4, page 9
   a shameless hack—such a whore for the money—that he wouldn't even lend his name to his creations. 1997, John Irving, A Son of the Circus
   I don't want to be a media whore," says Babydol. "I don't need to 'sell' my record — it will sell because it's good or won't if it's not 1999 October, Los Angeles Magazine, volume 44, number 10, page 186
5. (vulgar, derogatory) A contemptible person.
   "Begone," Clare shouted. She could not bring herself to kill in cold blood. "Begone, or I'll shoot." "Idiot whore," he shouted back. "You would not dare." 1999 August, Rod Garcia y Robertson, “Strongbow”, in Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 97, number 2, page 4
   I don't need that Lamont Cranston to tell me. Every Irishman knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. We've known since the time of that rotten ould whore, Elizabeth the Bloody First! 2000 Spring, Pete Hamill, “The Fenian Ram”, in World of Hibernia, volume 5, number 4, page 72
   Saxon curses rang in her ears. Dane, they yelled, Viking whore. We will have revenge on you. 2003, Helen Kirkman, A moment's madness

verb

1. (intransitive, vulgar) To prostitute oneself.
2. (intransitive, vulgar) To engage the services of a prostitute.
3. (transitive, vulgar) To pimp; to pander.
4. (transitive, vulgar) To promote shamelessly.
   Did you see him on that chat show, whoring his new book?
5. (intransitive, vulgar) To pursue false gods.
6. (intransitive, vulgar) To pursue false goals.
   As for those whose hearts go a whoring after the world, and who set their affections on the things of the earth, they cannot love his appearing 1856, Matthew Henry, An exposition of the Old and New Testament, volume 2, page 42
   Whoring after fame, rushing into print, "scoring a scoop,"— alas! some scientists are too human. 1967, Hawaiian Historical Society, The Hawaiian journal of history, volume 1
   "That Jeroboam. He whores after power." "And you, my son, lust more decorously?" 1973, Herbert Tarr, A time for loving
   Is there any distinction between a nation that whores after a golden calf and one that whores after a black Cadillac? 1976, Matthew Fox, Whee! We, wee, all the way home
   If he whores after the new thing, he will only get it wrong and wind up praising the latest charlatans, the floozies of the New. 1978, Wilfrid Sheed, The good word & other words
   For them, God is still in heaven, and we his sinful children are still whoring after the twin idols of modernity and materialism. December 28, 2010, Mordechai Beck, “Set apart”, in Christian Century, volume 127, number 26, page 22
7. (transitive, slang, video games, vulgar, derogatory) To overuse something.
   BTW, that guy whuz still an asshole - camping the BFG and whoring the quad - I usually leave BFG maps but stuck around on that one and suicided quite a bit (3 times I got to about -10 frags, then came back to 0...).