Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To persuade or try to persuade by pleading or flattery; cajole.
  • intransitive verb To obtain by persistent persuasion.
  • intransitive verb Obsolete To caress; fondle.
  • intransitive verb To move to or adjust toward a desired end.
  • intransitive verb To use persuasion or inducement.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A simpleton; gull; dupe; fool.
  • To fondle; caress; flatter; fool with flattery or caresses.
  • To persuade by fond pleading or flattery; wheedle; cajole.
  • Hence To manage or guide carefully; control in a gentle way: as, to coax a horse into a trot.
  • To use cajolery or gentle pleading.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A simpleton; a dupe.
  • transitive verb To persuade by gentle, insinuating courtesy, flattering, or fondling; to wheedle; to soothe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb obsolete to fondle, kid, pet, tease
  • verb To wheedle, persuade (a person, organisation, animal etc.) gradually or by use of flattery to do something.
  • verb To manipulate carefully into a particular situation or position.
  • noun obsolete A simpleton; a dupe.
  • noun Shortened form of coaxial cable

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
  • noun a transmission line for high-frequency signals

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete cokes, to fool, from cokes, fool.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from coaxial

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

originally (1586) in the slang phrase to make a coax of, from earlier noun coax, cox, cokes "fool, simpleton", itself of obscure origin, perhaps related to cock (male bird, pert boy). The modern spelling is from 1706.

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Examples

  • Keating is even the kind of educator who can coax from a shy, stuttering student (Ethan Hawke) Walt Whitman's famed "barbaric yawp."

    Caroline Hagood: The 'Dead Poets Society' Guide to Teaching Caroline Hagood 2010

  • WiFi Rail relies on leaky coax, which is wiring that runs in the tunnel already, and they've overlaid Wi-Fi signals on in a way that simulates a very long antenna.

    Wi-Fi Networking News 2009

  • WiFi Rail relies on leaky coax, which is wiring that runs in the tunnel already, and they've overlaid Wi-Fi signals on in a way that simulates a very long antenna.

    Wi-Fi Networking News 2009

  • For those unfamiliar MoCA, their technology enables users to pipe data transmissions through their home's existing cable TV wiring (aka coax cable) at speeds of up to 175 Mbps to experience multi-room DVR, PC to TV connectivity, and high-speed Internet gaming among other things.

    eHomeUpgrade 2009

  • WiFi Rail relies on leaky coax, which is wiring that runs in the tunnel already, and they've overlaid Wi-Fi signals on in a way that simulates a very long antenna.

    Wi-Fi Networking News 2009

  • WiFi Rail relies on leaky coax, which is wiring that runs in the tunnel already, and they've overlaid Wi-Fi signals on in a way that simulates a very long antenna.

    Wi-Fi Networking News 2009

  • That braided jacket on the coax is the second most important part of relaying good TV signal.

    VideoHelp.com Forum 2009

  • However, if your coax is the much lossier RG58, or if you intend using the antenna on 30m,

    eHam.net News 2009

  • That braided jacket on the coax is the second most important part of relaying good TV signal.

    VideoHelp.com Forum 2009

  • WiFi Rail relies on leaky coax, which is wiring that runs in the tunnel already, and they've overlaid Wi-Fi signals on in a way that simulates a very long antenna.

    Wi-Fi Networking News 2009

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