coax

verb

1. (obsolete)To fondle, kid, pet, tease.
2. (transitive)To wheedle or persuade (a person, organisation, animal etc.) gradually or by use of flattery to do something.

   “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.”

   “He coaxed the horse gently into the trailer.”

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

   “They coaxed the rope through the pipe.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

noun

1. (obsolete)A simpleton; a dupe.

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

2. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, uncountable)Clipping of coaxial cable.

adj

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, not-comparable)Clipping of coaxial.