2 Sonny was a young welder from Sanford who had come to Eatonville to court Maisie Allard. For three weekends straight, he’d been wooing her with sweet talk and wildflowers. When he wasn’t with her, he was shooting his mouth off about how tough he was. That particular day, Sonny had managed to track down the king of the gators, the biggest and oldest one in Lake Maitland, Sanford, or Eatonville. The gator’s name was Ghost, and for good reason. One minute he was sunning on a mud bank or floating in the pond, his back exposed like a twenty-foot-long banquet of rocks; the next minute he’d have disappeared, and the pond would be as still as a wall. Read the dictionary entry below.

Question

2 Sonny was a young welder from Sanford who had come to Eatonville to court Maisie Allard. For three weekends straight, he’d been wooing her with sweet talk and wildflowers. When he wasn’t with her, he was shooting his mouth off about how tough he was. That particular day, Sonny had managed to track down the king of the gators, the biggest and oldest one in Lake Maitland, Sanford, or Eatonville. The gator’s name was Ghost, and for good reason. One minute he was sunning on a mud bank or floating in the pond, his back exposed like a twenty-foot-long banquet of rocks; the next minute he’d have disappeared, and the pond would be as still as a wall.   Read the dictionary entry below.
court \ˈkȯrt\ v

1. the residence or establishment of a sovereign or similar dignitary

2. to seek to gain or achieve

3. to seek the affections of

4. an official assembly for the transaction of judicial business

Which definition most closely matches the way the word court is used in paragraph 2?

Definition 1

Definiton 2

Definition 3

Definition 4

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The definition that most closely matches the way the word "court" is used in paragraph 2 is:

Definition 3: to seek the affections of.

In this context, Sonny is trying to win the affections of Maisie Allard.