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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Provoke \Pro*voke"\, verb (used without an object)
1. To cause provocation or anger.
2. To appeal.
Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Dryden.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Provoke \Pro*voke"\, verb (used with an object) [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) 2.0 [wn]:
provoke
verb
1: call forth (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"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" [syn: {harass}, {hassle}, {harry}, {chivy}, {chivvy}, {chevy}, {chevvy}, {beset}, {plague}, {molest}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
235 Moby Thesaurus words for "provoke": 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
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