Adjacent Words

Provoke definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PROVO'KE, v.t. [L.provoco, to call forth; pro and voco, to call.]
1. To call into action; to arouse; to excite; as, to provoke anger or wrath by offensive words or by injury; to provoke war.
2. To make angry; to offend; to incense; to enrage.
Ye fathers,provoke not your children to wrath. Ephesians 6.
Often provoked by the insolence of some of the bishops--
3. To excite; to cause; as, to provoke perspiration; to provoke a smile.
4. To excite; to stimulate; to increase.
The taste of pleasure provokes the appetite, and every successive indulgence of vice which is to form a habit, is easier than the last.
5. To challenge.
He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore.
6. To move; to incite; to stir up; to induce by motives. Romans 10.
Let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works. Hebrews 10.
7. To incite; to rouse; as, to provoke one to anger. Deutoronomy 32.
PROVO'KE, v.i. To appeal. [A Latinism,not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" [syn: arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provoke]
2: evoke or provoke to appear or occur; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple" [syn: provoke, evoke, call forth, kick up]
3: provide the needed stimulus for [syn: provoke, stimulate]
4: annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" [syn: harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (provoked; provoking) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French *provoker, provocher, from Latin provocare, from pro- forth + vocare to call, from voc-, vox voice — more at pro-, voice Date: 14th century 1. a. archaic to arouse to a feeling or action b. to incite to anger 2. a. to call forth (as a feeling or action) ; evoke <provoke laughter> b. to stir up purposely <provoke a fight> c. to provide the needed stimulus for <will provoke a lot of discussion> • provoker noun Synonyms: provoke, excite, stimulate, pique, quicken mean to arouse as if by pricking. provoke directs attention to the response called forth <my stories usually provoke laughter>. excite implies a stirring up or moving profoundly <news that excited anger and frustration>. stimulate suggests a rousing out of lethargy, quiescence, or indifference <stimulating conversation>. pique suggests stimulating by mild irritation or challenge <that remark piqued my interest>. quicken implies beneficially stimulating and making active or lively <the high salary quickened her desire to have the job>. Synonym: see in addition irritate.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a (often foll. by to, or to + infin.) rouse or incite (provoked him to fury). b (as provoking adj.) exasperating; irritating. 2 call forth; instigate (indignation, an inquiry, a storm, etc.). 3 (usu. foll. by into + verbal noun) irritate or stimulate (a person) (the itch provoked him into scratching). 4 tempt; allure. 5 cause, give rise to (will provoke fermentation). Derivatives: provokable adj. provokingly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF provoquer f. L provocare (as PRO-(1), vocare call)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Provoke Pro*voke", v. i. 1. To cause provocation or anger. 2. To appeal. Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(provokes, provoking, provoked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you provoke someone, you deliberately annoy them and try to make them behave aggressively. He started beating me when I was about fifteen but I didn't do anything to provoke him... I provoked him into doing something really stupid. VERB: V n, V n into -ing/n 2. If something provokes a reaction, it causes it. His election success has provoked a shocked reaction... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Excite, stimulate, arouse, rouse, awaken, incite, move, kindle, inflame, animate, instigate, impel, stir up, work up, induce. 2. Exasperate, incense, enrage, chafe, vex, aggravate, anger, irritate, exacerbate, nettle, offend, affront, infuriate, give offence or umbrage to, put out, put out of humor, work into a passion, raise one's ire, make one's blood boil. 3. Cause, promote, occasion, instigate, call forth, produce.

Moby Thesaurus

abet, abrade, activate, affect the interest, affront, agent provocateur, aggravate, agitate, alienate, amplify, anger, animate, annoy, answer back, antagonize, arouse, attract, augment, awaken, badger, bait, be at, bedevil, beset, bestir, blow the coals, bother, breed, bring, bring about, bring on, bristle, brown off, bug, build up, bullyrag, burn up, call forth, call up, cause, chafe, challenge, chivy, come between, compel, concern, contrive, deepen, deteriorate, devil, disaffect, discompose, distemper, distress, disturb, disunite, divide, dog, draw down, draw on, drive, effect, egg on, electrify, elicit, embitter, encourage, engender, enhance, enlarge, enliven, enrage, enthuse, envenom, estrange, evoke, exacerbate, exalt, exasperate, excite, excite interest, exercise, exhilarate, fan, fan the flame, fascinate, fash, feed the fire, ferment, fillip, fire, foment, force, fret, frustrate, gall, galvanize, get, get up, goad, grate, grate on, gravel, gripe, grit, harass, harry, hatch, heat, heat up, heckle, hector, heighten, hot up, hound, huff, impassion, impel, incense, incite, increase, induce, inflame, inform, infuriate, infuse life into, inspire, instigate, insult, intensify, interest, invigorate, invite, involve in, irk, irritate, jazz up, kindle, lead, light the fuse, lip, madden, magnify, make acute, make trouble, make worse, miff, molest, motivate, move, muster up, nag, needle, nettle, nudzh, obtain, occasion, offend, outrage, peeve, persecute, perturb, pester, pick on, pick up, pique, pit against, plague, pluck the beard, pother, prime, procure, produce, promote, prompt, push, put out, put up to, quicken, raise, rally, rankle, rasp, renew, resuscitate, revive, ride, rile, roil, rouse, ruffle, sass, sauce, separate, set, set against, set at odds, set at variance, set on, set on edge, set up, sharpen, sic on, sour, sow dissension, spur on, start, stimulate, stir, stir the blood, stir the embers, stir up, stir up trouble, summon up, superinduce, talk back, tantalize, tease, thrill, tickle, titillate, titivate, torment, trouble, try the patience, tweak the nose, upset, vex, wake, waken, whet, whip up, work up, worry, worsen