persuading

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of persuade.

   Persuading voters requires more than a list of facts.

   He was tired of persuading everyone to follow the new rules.

   Note

   The -ing form does two jobs. It is a participle in "she was persuading him to stay" and a gerund in "persuading voters is hard work," and either way it keeps the verb's object. Because persuade itself implies success, the progressive often describes effort not yet rewarded. The older meaning "to urge, to try to convince" survives only as archaic, regional use. The same spelling also serves the adjective and the noun.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   An act of persuasion.

   Only after considerable persuading did the committee approve the plan.

   The deal closed without much persuading on either side.

   Similarpersuasion, coaxing, cajoling, convincing

   Oppositedissuasion

   Note

   Countable when it names separate acts. William Steven's The history of the Scottish church (1833) pairs "the preachings and persuadings" of a minister, with each sermon and appeal counted as an instance. The noun also works uncounted, as in after much persuading, where it names the whole effort rather than its separate attempts. Use the plural when the individual appeals matter. Use the bare form when only the effort does.

3. 3
   adjective

   Tending to convince others; persuasive.

   The lawyer delivered a persuading argument to the jury.

   His calm, persuading manner gradually won over the skeptics.

   Similarpersuasive, convincing, compelling, cogent

   Oppositeunconvincing, unpersuasive

Showing meanings only. Show all 3