Word.ws English Dictionary

coaxing

UK/ˈkəʊksɪŋ//ˈkoʊksɪŋ/

coaxing is the present participle and gerund of coax.

Meaning of coax

Verb

coax (third-person singular simple present coaxes, present participle coaxing, simple past and past participle coaxed)

  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.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VI, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  3. (transitive) To carefully manipulate (someone or something) into a particular desired state, situation or position.
    • They coaxed the rope through the pipe.
    Synonyms:
    ease, surprise

See all 4 meanings of coax

Noun

coaxing (plural coaxings)

  1. The act of one who coaxes.
    • After innumerable coaxings and threats, he agreed to do it.
    • Her mother was ever at her side, seeking with coaxings and evil advice to drive her to the irrevocable step.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

Adjective

coaxing (comparative more coaxing, superlative most coaxing)

  1. That coaxes.
    • “Poor little thing!” said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to whistle to it;1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Forms of coaxing

Noun
pluralcoaxings
Adjective
comparativemore coaxing
superlativemost coaxing

Words formed from coaxing

Questions about coaxing

What does coaxing mean?
Coaxing means the act of one who coaxes.
What is coaxing the present participle and gerund of?
Coaxing is the present participle and gerund of coax.
What part of speech is coaxing?
Coaxing can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce coaxing?
Coaxing is pronounced /ˈkəʊksɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of coaxing?
The plural of coaxing is coaxings.

Words near coaxing in the dictionary

  1. coaxial cable
  2. coaxial cables
  3. coaxiality
  4. coaxially
  5. coaxials
  6. coaxing
  7. coaxingly
  8. coaxings
  9. coaxis
  10. Coaxum
  11. Coaxums

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coaxing (page history and authors); coax (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-AnotherFriendlyHuman-coaxing.wav.

Cite this entry: “coaxing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coaxing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.