Dictionary entry

Wheedle

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Whee″dle (?), v. 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.