Verb

(contriv)

To form by an exercise of ingenuity; to devise; to plan; to scheme; to plot.

* Hawthorne

Neither do thou imagine that I shall contrive aught against his life.

* 1813 , Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice , Modern Library Edition (1995), page 154

I cannot bear the idea of two young women traveling post by themselves. It is highly improper. You must contrive to send somebody.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=10 citation , passage=With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.}}

To invent, to make devices; to form designs especially by improvisation.

To project, cast, or set forth, as in a projection of light.

Verb

(transitive, and, intransitive) To persuade someone to do something which they are reluctant to do, especially by flattery or promises; to coax.

* 1722 , , Moll Flanders , ch. 12:

Then he cajoled with his brother, and persuaded him what service he had done him.

* 1820 , , The Abbot , ch. 27:

If you are cajoled by the cunning arguments of a trumpeter of heresy, or the praises of a puritanic old woman, is not that womanish?

* 1894 , , Only An Irish Boy , ch. 19:

He had tried bullying, and without success. He would try cajoling and temptation.

* 1898 , , The Battle Of The Strong , ch. 37:

[W]ith eloquent arts he had cajoled a young girl into a secret marriage.

* 1917 , , King Coal , ch. 8:

Schulman, general manager of the "G. F. C.," had been sending out messengers to hunt for him, and finally had got him in his office, arguing and pleading, cajoling and denouncing him by turns.

* 2010 August 4, Michael Scherer, " NonSTARTer? Obama's Troubled Nuclear Treaty," Time :

For weeks, the White House, the Pentagon and Senate Democrats have been working overtime to cajole , convince and placate Republicans.