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Webster 1913 Edition
Wheedle
Whee′dle
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wheedled
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wheedling
.] [Cf. G.
wedeln
to wag with the tail, as a dog, wedel
a fan, tail, brush, OHG. wadal
; akin to G. wehen
to blow, and E. wind
, n.] 1.
To entice by soft words; to cajole; to flatter; to coax.
The unlucky art of
wheedling
fools. Dryden.
And
wheedle
a world that loves him not. Tennyson.
2.
To grain, or get away, by flattery.
A deed of settlement of the best part of her estate, which I
wheedled
out of her. Congreve.
Whee′dle
,Verb.
I.
To flatter; to coax; to cajole.
Webster 1828 Edition
Wheedle
WHEEDLE
,Verb.
T.
To learn th unlucky art of wheeling fools.
WHEEDLE
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2025
wheedle
wheedle
English
Verb
wheedle (third-person singular simple present wheedles, present participle wheedling, simple past and past participle wheedled) (transitive, intransitive)
- To cajole or attempt to persuade by flattery.
- 1977, Geoffrey Chaucer (in modern translation), The Canterbury Tales ("The Wife of Bath's Tale"), Penguin Classics, p. 290:
- Though he had beaten me in every bone / He still could wheedle me to love.
- I'd like one of those, too, if you can wheedle him into telling you where he got it.
- 1977, Geoffrey Chaucer (in modern translation), The Canterbury Tales ("The Wife of Bath's Tale"), Penguin Classics, p. 290:
- To obtain by flattery, guile, or trickery.
- Congreve
- A deed of settlement of the best part of her estate, which I wheedled out of her.
- Congreve
Translations
cajole
|
|
obtain by guile or trickery