Adjacent Words

Tease definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TEASE, v.t. s as z.
1. To comb or card, as wool or flax.
2. To scratch, as cloth in dressing, for the purpose of raising a nap.
3. To vex with importunity or impertinence; to harass, annoy, disturb or irritate by petty requests, or by jests and raillery. Parents are often teased by their children into unreasonable compliances.
My friends tease me about him, because he has no estate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity) [syn: tease, teaser, annoyer, vexer]
2: a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men [syn: coquette, flirt, vamp, vamper, minx, tease, prickteaser]
3: the act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances; "he ignored their teases"; "his ribbing was gentle but persistent" [syn: tease, teasing, ribbing, tantalization] v
1: annoy persistently; "The children teased the boy because of his stammer" [syn: tease, badger, pester, bug, beleaguer]
2: harass with persistent criticism or carping; "The children teased the new teacher"; "Don't ride me so hard over my failure"; "His fellow workers razzed him when he wore a jacket and tie" [syn: tease, razz, rag, cod, tantalize, tantalise, bait, taunt, twit, rally, ride]
3: to arouse hope, desire, or curiosity without satisfying them; "The advertisement is intended to tease the customers"; "She has a way of teasing men with her flirtatious behavior"
4: tear into pieces; "tease tissue for microscopic examinations"
5: raise the nap of (fabrics)
6: disentangle and raise the fibers of; "tease wool" [syn: tease, tease apart, loosen]
7: separate the fibers of; "tease wool" [syn: tease, card]
8: mock or make fun of playfully; "the flirting man teased the young woman"
9: ruffle (one's hair) by combing the ends towards the scalp, for a full effect [syn: tease, fluff]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (teased; teasing) Etymology: Middle English tesen, from Old English t?san; akin to Old High German zeisan to tease Date: before 12th century 1. a. to disentangle and lay parallel by combing or carding <tease wool> b. teasel 2. to tear in pieces; especially to shred (a tissue or specimen) for microscopic examination 3. a. to disturb or annoy by persistent irritating or provoking especially in a petty or mischievous way b. to annoy with petty persistent requests ; pester; also to obtain by repeated coaxing c. to persuade to acquiesce especially by persistent small efforts ; coax d. to manipulate or influence as if by teasing e. to make fun of ; kid 4. to comb (hair) by taking hold of a strand and pushing the short hairs toward the scalp with the comb 5. to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it Synonyms: see worry • teasingly adverb II. noun Date: 1680 1. the act of teasing ; the state of being teased 2. one that teases

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (also absol.) 1 a make fun of (a person or animal) playfully or unkindly or annoyingly. b tempt or allure, esp. sexually, while refusing to satisfy the desire aroused. 2 pick (wool, hair, etc.) into separate fibres. 3 dress (cloth) esp. with teasels. --n. 1 colloq. a person fond of teasing. 2 an instance of teasing (it was only a tease). Phrases and idioms: tease out separate by disentangling. Derivatives: teasingly adv. Etymology: OE tæsan f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tease Tease, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Teased; p. pr. & vb. n. Teasing.] [AS. t?san to pluck, tease; akin to OD. teesen, MHG. zeisen, Dan. t[ae]se, t[ae]sse. [root]58. Cf. Touse.] 1. To comb or card, as wool or flax. ``Teasing matted wool.'' --Wordsworth. 2. To stratch, as cloth, for the purpose of raising a nap; teasel. 3. (Anat.) To tear or separate into minute shreds, as with needles or similar instruments. 4. To vex with importunity or impertinence; to harass, annoy, disturb, or irritate by petty requests, or by jests and raillery; to plague. --Cowper. He . . . suffered them to tease him into acts directly opposed to his strongest inclinations. --Macaulay. Syn: To vex; harass: annoy; disturb; irritate; plague; torment; mortify; tantalize; chagrin. Usage: Tease, Vex. To tease is literally to pull or scratch, and implies a prolonged annoyance in respect to little things, which is often more irritating, and harder to bear, than severe pain. Vex meant originally to seize and bear away hither and thither, and hence, to disturb; as, to vex the ocean with storms. This sense of the term now rarely occurs; but vex is still a stronger word than tease, denoting the disturbance or anger created by minor provocations, losses, disappointments, etc. We are teased by the buzzing of a fly in our eyes; we are vexed by the carelessness or stupidity of our servants. Not by the force of carnal reason, But indefatigable teasing. --Hudibras. In disappointments, where the affections have been strongly placed, and the expectations sanguine, particularly where the agency of others is concerned, sorrow may degenerate into vexation and chagrin. --Cogan. Tease tenon (Joinery), a long tenon at the top of a post to receive two beams crossing each other one above the other.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tease Tease, n. One who teases or plagues. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(teases, teasing, teased) 1. To tease someone means to laugh at them or make jokes about them in order to embarrass, annoy, or upset them. He told her how the boys in East Poldown had set on him, teasing him... He teased me mercilessly about going Hollywood... 'You must be expecting a young man,' she teased. VERB: V n, V n about n/-ing, V with quote • Tease is also a noun. Calling her by her real name had always been one of his teases. N-COUNT • teasing She tolerated the teasing, until the fourth grade. N-UNCOUNT: also the N 2. If you refer to someone as a tease, you mean that they like laughing at people or making jokes about them. My brother's such a tease... N-COUNT: usu sing 3. If you say that someone is teasing, you mean that they are pretending to offer you something that you want, especially sex, but then not giving it to you. I thought she was teasing, playing the innocent, but looking back, I'm not so sure... When did you last flirt with him or tease him? VERB: V, V n 4. If you refer to someone as a tease, you mean that they pretend to offer someone what they want, especially sex, but then do not give it to them. Later she heard he had told one of her friends she was a tease. N-COUNT: usu sing [disapproval] 5. see also teasing, striptease

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Worry, vex, plague, annoy, torment, molest, irritate, harass, tantalize, badger, chafe, hector, harry, pester, bother, trouble, disturb, chagrin, provoke.

Moby Thesaurus

Artful Dodger, Casanova, Don Juan, Machiavel, Machiavelli, Machiavellian, actor, aggravate, annoy, annoyer, appeal, apply pressure, attract, badger, badgerer, baffle, bafflement, bait, balk, bamboozler, banter, be at, be attractive, beckon, bedevil, befuddler, beguiler, beleaguer, beset, besiege, betrayed hope, bilk, blandish, blasted expectation, blighted hope, blow, bother, bristle, brown off, buffet, bug, bully, bullyrag, burn up, buttonhole, cajole, cast down, chaff, charmer, chivy, coax, comedown, counterfeiter, cross, cruel disappointment, dash, dashed hope, deceiver, defeat, defeat expectation, deluder, devil, disappoint, disappointment, discomfiture, discompose, disillusion, disillusionment, dissatisfaction, dissatisfy, dissembler, dissimulator, distemper, disturb, dodger, dog, double-dealer, drive mad, dun, duper, enchanter, engage, entrancer, exasperate, exercise, exert pressure, failure, faker, fallen countenance, fash, fetch, fiasco, fizzle, foil, foiling, fooler, forger, forlorn hope, frustrate, frustration, gay deceiver, get, gnaw, goad, gripe, guy, harass, harasser, harrier, harry, haze, heckle, heckler, hector, hoaxer, hope deferred, hound, hypnotizer, importune, interest, invite, irk, irritate, jape, jest, jilt, jilter, jive, joke, joker, jokester, jolly, josh, kid, kidder, leg-puller, let down, letdown, manipulate, mesmerizer, miff, mirage, misleader, molest, nag, nag at, needle, nettle, nudnik, nudzh, peeve, persecute, persecutor, pest, pester, pesterer, pick on, pique, plagiarist, plagiarizer, plague, plaguer, playactor, pluck the beard, ply, pother, practical joker, press, pressure, provoke, push, put on, rag, ragger, rally, razz, rib, ride, rile, roast, roil, role-player, ruffle, sadist, seducer, setback, sore disappointment, spoofer, summon, tantalization, tantalize, taunt, teaser, tempt, thwart, tickle, titillate, torment, tormentor, try the patience, tweak the nose, twit, urge, vex, wheedle, whet the appetite, winkle, work, work on, worry