From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcoaxcoax /kəʊks $ koʊks/ verb [transitive] 1 PERSUADEto persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do by talking to them in a kind, gentle, and patient way ‘Please, Vic, come with us, ’ Nancy coaxed.coax somebody into/out of (doing) something We had to coax Alan into going to school.coax somebody to do something We watched the bear coax its cubs to enter the water.coax somebody down/out/back etc Firefighters managed to coax the man down from the roof.► see thesaurus at persuade2 CAREFULto make something such as a machine do something by dealing with it in a slow, patient, and careful waycoax something out of/from/into etc something He coaxed a fire out of some dry grass and twigs. The driver coaxed his bus through the snow. —coaxing noun [uncountable] She needs a bit of gentle coaxing. —coaxingly adverb → coax something out of/from somebody→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
coax• "How about letting me borrow your car?" Santos coaxed.• The U.S. is trying to coax both sides to take part in talks.• He remembered how disgusted he had been to see Carol, red-eyed from weeping, trying to coax Eunice up to bed.• Irene had had to coax her back to class after the first day.• The devil also paid her a visit, coaxing her to spit on a cross and break a rosary.• Many bulbs can be coaxed into bloom early.• The children had to be coaxed into coming with us.• He was coaxing me to walk a bit further without having to carry me, by promising that it was just a bit further.• He felt that Jeopardy coaxed the best out of him.• Want to coax the big pharmaceuticals companies to produce that malaria drug?• Applications can be like teaching machines, coaxing users to the right choices without penalties, says Sippl.• "Oh come on, Vic, " she coaxed, "We need you, don't let us down."coax somebody to do something• Scott coaxed him to give the new baby a kiss.Origin coax (1500-1600) cokes “stupid person” ((16-17 centuries)) 