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provoke |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Provoke \Pro*voke"\, v. i. 1. To cause provocation or anger. 2. To appeal. Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Dryden. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Provoke \Pro*voke"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Provoked}; p. pr & vb n. {Provoking}.] [F. provoquer L. provocare to call forth; pro forth + vocare to call fr vox, vocis, voice, cry, call See {Voice}.] To call forth; to call into being or action esp., to incense to action a faculty or passion, as love, hate, or ambition; hence commonly, to incite, as a person, to action by a challenge, by taunts, or by defiance; to exasperate; to irritate; to offend intolerably; to cause to retaliate. Obey his voice, provoke him not --Ex. xxiii. 21. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. --Eph. vi 4. Such acts Of contumacy will provoke the Highest To make death in us live. --Milton. Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust? --Gray. To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it what it provokes in his own soul. -- J. Burroughs Syn: To irritate; arouse; stir up awake; excite; incite; anger. See {Irritate}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: provoke v 1: call forth; of emotions, feelings, and responses; "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" [syn: {arouse}, {elicit}, {enkindle}, {kindle}, {evoke}, {fire}, {raise}] 2: call forth; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple" [syn: {evoke}, {call forth}, {kick up}] 3: provide the needed stimulus for [syn: {stimulate}] 4: annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked" [syn: {harass}, {hassle}, {harry}, {chivy}, {chivvy}, {chevy}, {chevvy}, {beset}, {plague}, {molest}]
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