Word of the Day for Wednesday, August 29, 2007
cajole \kuh-JOHL\, transitive:
To persuade with flattery, repeated appeals, or soothing words; to coax.
If Robert had been an ordinary ten-year-old he would have cajoled and whined, asked and asked and asked until I snapped at him to keep quiet.
-- Anna Quindlen, Black and Blue
One of Virgil's great accomplishments was his ability to charm, cajole, weasel people out of their bad moods, especially when their bads moods inconvenienced him.
-- Anthony Tommasini,
Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle
Whiz kept to himself and spent long hours every day studying financials and technical charts and reading impenetrable economic publications. Even the warden had tried to cajole him into sharing market tips.
-- Belfry Holdings, The Brethren
Cajole derives from Early Modern French cajoler, originally, "to chatter like a bird in a cage, to sing; hence, to amuse with idle talk, to flatter," from Old French gaiole, jaiole, "a cage," from Medieval Latin caveola, "a small cage," from Latin cavea, "an enclosure, a den for animals, a bird cage," from cavus, "hollow." It is related to cave, cage and jail (British gaol).
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for cajole
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