How to Use coax in a Sentence

coax

1 of 2 verb
  • She tried to coax a raise from her boss.
  • It took almost an hour to coax the cat down from the tree.
  • He coaxed the fire to burn by blowing on it.
  • He was unable to coax an answer out of her.
  • The plant is difficult to coax into bloom.
  • He will not be coaxed, tricked, or trapped.
    — Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Could my hair ever be coaxed do that?
    — Emma Specter, Vogue, 1 Oct. 2025
  • When the shots went bad, fans groaned and tried to coax him on.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
  • People mined sand, caught fish and coaxed crops from the soil.
    — Peter S. Goodman Ulet Ifansasti, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Will that be enough to coax large numbers of ships back through the strait?
    — Camila Domonoske, NPR, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Landau had to coax them into it.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The plastic bristles coax out loose hair as your cat rubs against it.
    — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 15 May 2026
  • Aside from its rich taste coaxed in fruity olive oil, a tin is often less than four bucks.
    — Nina Moskowitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 May 2026
  • Johansson shows up on a jet ski to coax them down to the party.
    — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Renée coaxed a complete sentence.
    — Richard Greenberg, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
  • The heat underneath had slowly coaxed the juices from the bird.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026
  • For some people, coffee’s siren song is what coaxes them out of bed.
    — Ali Francis, Bon Appétit, 18 Aug. 2023
  • Peters crouched down and used a little body language to try to coax the ball fair.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2026
  • Hillery had to coax the monarch away from the chickens to continue the tour.
    — Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 29 Apr. 2026
  • One was quick and the other needed coaxing.
    — Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Many of us don't have the time—or the skill—to work at coaxing flowers out of the garden.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Konz insisted the officer had tried to coax the bird off the bridge.
    — Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Maybe one of us could be coaxed out of retirement for such an occasion.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Some animals need to be coaxed to step onto the scales or to stand up to be measured.
    — Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The goal is to keep the celebration going, not coax them back to their seats.
    — Elise Taylor, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Steve gently coaxes him back to school, where the film crew is causing havoc.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Bulbs properly planted in pots may also be coaxed to bloom again.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Two innings later, Tolzien coaxed a walk on eight pitches.
    — Steve Reaven, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026
  • Eleven uses her powers to save Max and coax her back to life after her heart stops.
    — Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 25 Nov. 2025
  • After nearly a full minute of coaxing, the standoff ends.
    — Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025

coax

2 of 2 noun
  • Use the least amount of coax cable to reach from your antenna or splitter to each TV.
    — Jim Rossman, Dallas News, 20 June 2019
  • Start with your internet modem, the device that most likely has a coax cable connecting it to your wall.
    — Frank Bajak, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2020
  • The Internet service provider terminated their coax in a small closet off the entry hall.
    — Jim Salter, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2020
  • This means existing household coax installations, which generally make use of only a single cable running to each connected room, won't be of much use.
    — John Herrman, Popular Mechanics, 1 Apr. 2021
  • From the outdoor Yagi, a leg of coax cabling needs to be routed indoors and fed to the signal booster, which then has an output port which connects to an indoor panel antenna via another coax run.
    — Jim Salter, Ars Technica, 1 Aug. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coax.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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