From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgoadgoad1 /ɡəʊd $ ɡoʊd/ verb [transitive] 1 CAUSEto make someone do something by annoying or encouraging them until they do it → provokegoad somebody into (doing) something Kathy goaded him into telling her what he had done.goad somebody on They goaded him on with insults.2 TTBto push animals ahead of you with a sharp stick→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
goad• But if he thought that he could goad a reaction out of her then he was sorely mistaken.• He was simply doing this to goad her.• No Irina Volkova to goad him with her arrogance and her interference.• Each year Asbury tried to reach every state in order to goad his men and to supervise their work.• These moves goad households and businesses into spending more on goods and services.• He repeated it constantly, goading Rosenberg.• They walk up the hills and goad the agents into chasing them.goad somebody into (doing) something• Several boys surrounded him and goaded him into a fight.• Should you goad him into attacking you, you might find the aftermath disappointing.• They walk up the hills and goad the agents into chasing them.• His minders goad him into flapping his fins a bit but there is no spark in his fishy eye.• He was trying to provoke her, deliberately goading her into saying more than she intended.goadgoad2 noun [countable] 1 CAUSEsomething that forces someone to do something The offer of economic aid was a goad to political change.2 TTBa sharp stick for making animals move forwardExamples from the Corpus
goad• His calmness was a goad she hated him for.• The idea of millennium: this was the goal and the goad behind so much of the mission.• Jotan glanced back once, and then he applied the goad energetically to the p'tar's hind quarters.• Meditation is the goad, the bit and the whip of the mind.• Alexei searched for the metal-tipped goad which he knew must be somewhere.Origin goad2 Old English gad 