▪ I. wheedle, n. Now rare.
(ˈhwiːd(ə)l)
Forms: see the vb.
[f. next.]
1. An act or instance of wheedling; a piece of insinuating flattery or cajolery; also gen. wheedling speech.
| 1668 G. Etherege She wou'd if she cou'd i. i, Dost thou think to pass these gross Wheadles on me too? 1681 Hickeringill Black Non-Conf. vii. Wks. 1716 II. 61 It looks like a Wheedle, or a Trepan, to drill a Man into a Court by Process in a feigned Suit. 1687 Sedley Bellamira iv. i, You have several times talked to me of a sister of mine, lost from our house in Devonshire; but I always look'd upon it as a meer wheedle. a 1708 T. Ward Eng. Ref. ii. (1710) 87 In Cant and Wheedle most Expert They were. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 284 She.., by a soft insinuating wheedle, took possession of the divine's good opinion. a 1814 Word of Honor iii. i. in New Brit. Theatre I. 368, I cannot stand this wheedle. 1861 Thackeray Round. Papers, Ogres, So were the Sirens ogres—pretty blue-eyed things..singing their melodious wheedles. |
† 2. A wheedler.
Obs.| 1673 Wycherley Gent. Dancing-Master iv. i, Hipp. You saw I cou'd dissemble with my Father, Why shou'd you think I cou'd not with you? Ger. So young a Wheadle? 1681 Otway Soldier's Fort. iii. i, Dainty Wheadle, here's a Fellow for ye. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Parasite, a Trencher Friend, a meer Wheedle. Ibid., Wheadle, a Sharper. |
▪ II. wheedle, v. (
ˈhwiːd(ə)l)
Also 7
whed(d)le, 7–9
wheadle.
[Origin obscure. Possibly a survival in a specialized application of OE. wǽdlian to beg, orig. to be poor, f. wǽdl poverty.] 1. trans. To entice or persuade by soft flattering words; to gain over or take in by coaxing or cajolery.
| 1661 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 2), Whead or Wheadle, is a late word of fancy, and signifies to draw one in, by fair words or subtile insinuation, to act any thing of disadvantage or reproof. 1668 Shadwell Sullen Lovers iv. 52 Come Sir, don't think to Wheadle me at this rate! 1675 Tullie Let. to Baxter 23 To be wheadl'd with bare Talke. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil i. i. (1840) 12 He wheedled Eve, deluded Adam. 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. ii. 254 Smooth words he had to wheedle simple souls. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xxxii, He was crossing you and wheedling you. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. xxxix. II. 78 The citizens are too numerous to be all wheedled or threatened. |
b. with various preps. and
advs., or with inf.: To bring into a specified condition by such action.
| 1667 Leathermore: Advice conc. Gaming (1668) 7 If the Winner be bubbleable, they will..wheadle him into play and win all his Money. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 247 By laying the Net in such haunts, and wheedling them [sc. pigeons, etc.] in by a Stale. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 129 To wheedle one almost to make himself away. 1673 Dryden Amboyna Prol., Religion wheedled you to Civil War. 1687 in Magd. Coll. (O.H.S.) 167 They were wheedled off of it by some few sugar words. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack i. (1840) 12 The major..was wheedled away by a couple of young rogues. 1726 ― Hist. Devil i. i. (1840) 12 How he wheedled the people..into the absurd..undertaking of building a Babel. 1860 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. i, I..should have no idea..how to wheedle a man into ordering something he doesn't want. 1869 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xl. (1870) 467 He has a tongue that could wheedle a bird out of a tree. 1876 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. (ed. 2) 184 Whom he wheedled over not to betray him. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed xii. 232, I have seen you wheedle an angry Mahdieh woman into giving you dates. |
2. To do (a person)
out of a thing, or to get (a thing)
out of a person, by such action.
| 1670 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 196 The M[asters] are whedled out of one [Act]. 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. xviii, I have already a deed of Settlement of the best part of her Estate; which I wheadl'd out of her. 1759 Franklin Hist. Penn. Wks. 1840 III. 529 These proprietaries..would have either bullied or wheedled the inhabitants out of the privileges they were born to. 1816 Scott Antiq. iii, I wheedled an old woman out of these [ballads]. 1831 ― Cast. Dang. xi, I suffered the abbess to wheedle the secret out of me. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xxiv, Wheedling my money from me while I lay half conscious. |
3. absol. or intr. To use soft flattering words; (of an animal) to fawn;
† to wheedle in with, to curry favour with;
† to wheedle with = sense 1.
| 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 335 His bus'ness was to pump and wheedle. 1712 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) III. 290 Lancaster goes down to the Dean of X{supt}. Church, and began to wheedle with him. 1716 Swift Phyllis 87 Johnny wheedled, threaten'd, fawn'd, Till Phyllis all her trinkets pawn'd. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil ii. i. (1840) 183 Secretly wheedling in with the dignified clergy. 1811 Ora & Juliet I. 204 She wheedled with the housekeeper, till she insured a glass of cordial from her. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 151 Wheedling and siding with them! 1865 Swinburne Poems & Ball., Satia te Sanguine xiv, As a tame beast writhes and wheedles. |
b. Cant.
= whiddle v.
| 1710 Palmer Proverbs 197 Sing in the Proverb, is the same that our Newgate-Birds call Wheedle; which is, when one of the Gang Tattles, Confesses, and Accuses the Rest. |
Hence
ˈwheedled ppl. a.;
ˈwheedling vbl. n. and ppl. a. (chiefly of conduct, manner, etc.); whence
ˈwheedlingly adv.; also
ˈwheedler;
ˈwheedlery, wheedling;
ˈwheedlesome,
ˈwheedly adjs., of a wheedling character.
| 1675 R. Head Proteus Rediv. 226 His gulled or *Wheedled Patient. |
| 1773 Ainsworth's Lat. Dict. II, Delinitor,..a cajoler, or *wheedler. a 1861 T. Winthrop Life in Open Air (1863) 41 Smith, wheedler of trout. 1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women xiv, You get everything you want out of people{ddd}you are a born wheedler. |
| 1909 ‘G. G.’ Winkles 58 The fond daughter continued her *wheedleries. |
| 1863 L. M. Alcott Hosp. Sk., etc. 94 Anything more irresistibly *wheedlesome I never saw. |
| 1674 R. Head Jackson's Recant. B j b, Incomparable at the Art of *wheedling, which some call Complaisance. 1702 Pope Wife of Bath 163 By murm'ring, wheedling, stratagem, and force, I still prevail'd. 1837 Dickens Pickw. v, Notwithstanding all kinds of coaxing and wheedling, there were Mr. Winkle and the horse going round and round each other for ten minutes. 1859 Meredith R. Feverel xxxi, Wheedling availed as little as argument. |
| 1668 Shadwell Sullen Lovers iv. 60 Pox on't what a *wheadling Rogue art thou now? 1694 F. Bragge Disc. Parables ii. 41 His sly and wheedling insinuations. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore i. i, A laughing, toying, wheadling, whimpering she. 1848 Dickens Dombey lii, ‘I wonder Master didn't take you with him, Rob,’ said the old woman in a wheedling voice. |
| 1856 Meredith Shav. Shagpat i. 18 *Wheedlingly she looked at him. 1904 W. S. Gilbert Fairy's Dilemma i, Al. (wheedlingly). What am I to get for this, eh? |
| 1838 Lady S. Lyttelton Corr. (1912) 282 The maids of honour..are very coaxy and *wheedly with me. |