Adjacent Words

Incite definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INCI'TE, v.t. [L. incito; in and cito, to call, to stir up.]
1. To move the mind to action by persuasion or motives presented; to stir up; to rouse; to spur on.
Antiochus, when he incited Prusias to join in war, set before him the greatness of the Romans.
2. To move to action by impulse or influence.
No blown ambition does our arms incite.
3. To animate; to encourage.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: give an incentive for action; "This moved me to sacrifice my career" [syn: motivate, actuate, propel, move, prompt, incite]
2: provoke or stir up; "incite a riot"; "set off great unrest among the people" [syn: incite, instigate, set off, stir up]
3: urge on; cause to act; "The other children egged the boy on, but he did not want to throw the stone through the window" [syn: prod, incite, egg on]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (incited; inciting) Etymology: Middle French inciter, from Latin incitare, from in- + citare to put in motion — more at cite Date: 15th century to move to action ; stir up ; spur on ; urge on • incitant noun • incitement noun • inciter noun Synonyms: incite, instigate, abet, foment mean to spur to action. incite stresses a stirring up and urging on, and may or may not imply initiating <inciting a riot>. instigate definitely implies responsibility for initiating another's action and often connotes underhandedness or evil intention <instigated a conspiracy>. abet implies both assisting and encouraging <aiding and abetting the enemy>. foment implies persistence in goading <fomenting rebellion>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (often foll. by to) urge or stir up. Derivatives: incitation n. incitement n. inciter n. Etymology: ME f. F inciter f. L incitare (as IN-(2), citare rouse)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Incite In*cite", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Incited; p. pr. & vb. n. Inciting.] [L. incitare; pref. in- in + citare to rouse, stir up: cf. F. inciter. See Cite.] To move to action; to stir up; to rouse; to spur or urge on. Anthiochus, when he incited Prusias to join in war, set before him the greatness of the Romans. --Bacon. No blown ambition doth our arms incite. --Shak. Syn: Excite; stimulate; instigate; spur; goad; arouse; move; urge; rouse; provoke; encourage; prompt; animate. See Excite.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(incites, inciting, incited) If someone incites people to behave in a violent or illegal way, they encourage people to behave in that way, usually by making them excited or angry. He incited his fellow citizens to take their revenge... The party agreed not to incite its supporters to violence... They pleaded guilty to possessing material likely to incite racial hatred. VERB: V n to-inf, V n to n, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Rouse (to action), arouse, animate, provoke, stimulate, impel, prompt, urge, encourage, spur, goad, excite, set on, spur on, stir up, work up.

Moby Thesaurus

abet, actuate, admonish, agitate, animate, annoy, arouse, awake, awaken, bestir, blow the coals, blow up, call forth, call up, caution, charge, compel, drive, drive on, egg on, encourage, enjoin, enkindle, enrage, excite, exhort, expostulate, fan, fan the fire, fan the flame, feed the fire, ferment, fire, flame, foment, forward, frenzy, give an impetus, give momentum, goad, heat, heat up, impassion, impel, incense, induce, inflame, influence, infuriate, inspire, instigate, issue a caveat, key up, kindle, lather up, light the fuse, light up, madden, motivate, move, nettle, overexcite, persuade, pique, power, preach, prick, prod, prompt, propel, provoke, push, put in motion, put up to, rally, remonstrate, rouse, set agoing, set astir, set fire to, set going, set in motion, set on, set on fire, sic on, spur, steam up, stimulate, stir, stir the blood, stir the embers, stir the feelings, stir up, summon up, thrust, tickle, turn on, urge, wake, wake up, waken, warm, warm the blood, warn, whet, whip on, whip up, work into, work up