coax

present singular third person coaxes · participle present coaxing · participle past coaxed · past coaxed

1. obsoleteTo fondle, kid, pet, tease.

   Synonyms: caress, grope, touch up, canoodle, caress, chuckle, cosset, dally

2. transitiveTo wheedle or persuade (a person, organisation, animal etc.) gradually or by use of flattery to do something.

   He coaxed the horse gently into the trailer.

   2 more examples

   She was so mad she wouldn't speak to me for quite a spell, but at last I coaxed her into going up to Miss Emmeline's room and fetching down a tintype of the missing Deacon man.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift On paper, Continental Drift boasts a jaw-dropping voice cast, including but not limited to Jennifer Lopez, Patrick Stewart, Wanda Sykes, Aziz Ansari, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Alan Tudyk. But in practice, the overstuffed ensemble leaves the cast no room to distinguish themselves, and directors Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier don’t seem interested in coaxing performances that might render their money stars less identifiable.

   Synonyms: cajole, canoodle, persuade, tease, trap, wheedle

3. transitiveTo carefully manipulate (someone or something) into a particular desired state, situation or position.

   They coaxed the rope through the pipe.

   3 more examples

   I've finally coaxed the sticky drawers open.

   Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.

   2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

   When the occupant of one of these floating dwellings wishes to move, […] he calls to his aid a number of muscular friends and relatives, and then, with the aid of great shovel-shaped paddles, they coax the home away to its new locality.

   1908, E Young, “Chapter 2 In Eastern Venice”, in Peeps at Many Lands: Siam, London: Adam and Charles Black, page 6

   Synonyms: ease, surprise

plural coaxes

1. obsoleteA simpleton; a dupe.

   Go, you're a brainless Coax, a Toy, a Fop, I'll go no farther than your Name, Sir Gregory

   c. 1613, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, “Wit at Several Weapons. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

plural coaxes

1. abbreviationclippingcountableuncountableClipping of coaxial cable.

   Synonyms: coax cable

1. abbreviationclippingnot comparableClipping of coaxial.