- educe
- educe, evoke, elicit, extract, extort mean to bring or draw out what is hidden, latent, or reserved.Educe usually implies the development and outward manifestation of something potential or latent{
Gray, with the qualities of mind and soul of a genuine poet . . . could not fully educe and enjoy them— Arnold
}{seem to be able to educe from common sense a more or less clear reply to the questions raised— Sidgwick
}Evoke basically suggests the voice or the words of a magician compelling spirits to leave the other world or the dead to arise From their graves{evoke a demon
}{evoked the ghost of his father
}In current use the term ordinarily implies the operation of a powerful agency that produces an effect instantly or that serves as a stimulus in arousing an emotion, a passion, or an interest{the delight which growing flowers and blossoming trees evoke— Binyon
}{it is useless to obtrude moral ideas [upon children] at an age at which they can evoke no response— Russell
}{all harmonies ... are latent in the complex mechanism of an organ, but a master's hand is necessary to evoke them— Lowes
}Elicit usually implies pains, trouble, or skill in drawing something forth or out; it often implies resistance either in the person or thing that is the object of effort{elicit important information from a witness by cross-examination
}{it is the trouble we take over our children that elicits the stronger forms of parental affection— Russell
}Extract implies the action of a force (as pressure or suction){extract the juice of an orange
}{extract a tooth
}{to extract all the dramatic value possible from the situation— T. S. Eliot
}{he had not that faculty of extracting the essence from a heap of statements— Dickens
}{to make the comparison at all was ... to return to it often, to brood upon it, to extract from it the last dregs of its interest— Henry James
}Extort implies a wringing or wresting especially from one who is reluctant or resisting{extort money from one's relatives
}{extort a promise
}{she did at last extort from her father an acknowledgment that the horses were engaged— Austen
}{whose income is ample enough to extort obsequiousness from the vulgar of all ranks— Bennett
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
