persuade verb

/pəˈsweɪd/

/pɚ-/ v [T]

Definition

to make someone do or believe something by giving them a good reason to do it or by talking to them and making them believe it

If she doesn't want to go, nothing you can say will persuade her.

[+ (that)] It's no use trying to persuade him (that) you're innocent.

[+ to infinitive] He is trying to persuade local and foreign businesses to invest in the project.

Using a bunch of bananas, the zoo-keeper persuaded the monkey back into its cage.

formal The first priority is to persuade the management of the urgency of this matter.

Her legal advisers persuaded her into/out of mentioning (= to mention/not to mention) the names of the people involved in the robbery.

(Definition of persuade verb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Synonyms and related words:

to worry

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