See Also: wheedle(dictionary)
wheedle(dictionary)

wheedle (iou)



wheedle verb & noun. M17.
[Perh. from German wedeln fawn (on), cringe (to), from Wedel tail, fan.]
A. verb.
verb trans. Coax or persuade by flattery or endearments. Freq. foll. by into, or with direct speech as obj. M17.
N. Sahgal Kiran and I had gone to wheedle him into taking us to the cinema. A. West He had to pacify her and wheedle her into a better humour. A. Brookner 'Mama, Mama,' wheedles Betty on the telephone. 'Don't be cross with me'.
verb intrans. Use flattery or endearments. M17.
V. Glendinning He continued to wheedle and plead, but she had no intention of giving in.
verb trans. Get (a thing) from or out of a person by wheedling; arch. cheat (a person) out of a thing by wheedling. L17.
Sir W. Scott I wheedled an old woman out of these ballads. V. Ackland I..wheedled permission from my inattentive mother.
b. noun.
An act or instance of wheedling; a piece of insinuating flattery or cajolery. Now rare. M17.
Thackeray So were the Sirens ogrespretty blue-eyed things..singing their melodious wheedles.
A wheedler. slang. Now rare or obsolete. L17.
wheedlingly adverb in a wheedling manner M19.
wheedler noun a person who wheedles L18.