coax
part of speech
verb (coax, coaxes, coaxed, coaxing); noun (coax — short for coaxial cable, technical)
meaning for a pupil
1) To persuade someone gently and patiently to do something. tree →
2) To get something to work or move by careful, gentle effort: «coax the fire into life». tree →
3) (technical, noun) A short form of «coaxial cable», a TV or aerial cable. tree →
sense in the lessons
Common in stories and everyday life: coaxing a shy cat out from under a bed, coaxing a younger child to eat vegetables. It shows kind, patient persuasion rather than force. Phrases: «coax out», «coax into», «coax a smile».
examples
- She coaxed the kitten out from under the sofa with some milk. tree →
- Dad coaxed the old car into starting. tree →
- We coaxed my little brother into trying the broccoli. tree →
- The Rat coaxed the Mole back to sleep. tree →
- He coaxed a smile from the crying baby. tree →
- Gran coaxed the fire back into life with dry sticks. tree →
- The TV aerial is joined with a coax cable. tree →
- So she tried to coax the boy into going at once to bed: tree →
note
Pronounced KOHKS, one syllable. Coax is gentle; «force» or «make» is not. Similar: persuade, sweet-talk, encourage.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «coax» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.