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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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Provoking \Pro*vok"ing\, adjective Having the power or quality of exciting resentment; tending to awaken passion or vexation; as, provoking words or treatment. -- {Pro*vok"ing*ly}, adverb
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
provoking
adjective: causing or tending to cause anger or resentment; "a provoking delay at the airport" [syn: {agitative}, {agitating}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
113 Moby Thesaurus words for "provoking": aggravating, agitating, alluring, annoying, ardent, bothering, bothersome, breathtaking, burning, challenging, charged, cliff-hanging, disquieting, distracting, disturbing, electric, emphatic, encouraging, energizing, enthusiastic, exasperating, exciting, exhilarating, fervent, fiery, galling, galvanic, galvanizing, glowing, harassing, harassment, heady, heart-expanding, heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling, impassioned, importunate, importune, impressive, inflammatory, interesting, intoxicating, inviting, irking, irksome, irritating, jarring, jolting, juicy, lively, maddening, mind-blowing, moving, overcoming, overmastering, overpowering, overwhelming, passionate, perturbing, pesky, pestering, pestiferous, pestilent, pestilential, piquant, plaguesome, plaguey, plaguing, prompting, provocation, provocative, racy, ravishing, readable, rich, rousing, soul-stirring, spicy, spirit-stirring, stimulant, stimulating, stimulative, stirring, striking, succulent, suspenseful, suspensive, tantalizing, teasing, telling, thought-challenging, thought-inspiring, thought-provoking, thrilling, thrilly, tickling, tiresome, titillating, tormenting, troublesome, troubling, unsettling, upsetting, urgent, vehement, vexation, vexatious, vexing, warm, wearisome, worrisome, worrying
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |