Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Provoke
Pro-voke′
,Verb.
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
To make death in us live.
Of contumacy will
provoke
the HighestTo 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
. Pro-voke′
,Verb.
I.
1.
To cause provocation or anger.
2.
To appeal.
[A Latinism]
[Obs.]
Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Provoke
PROVO'KE
,Verb.
T.
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. Eph.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. Rom.10. Let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works. Heb.10.
7.
To incite; to rouse; as, to provoke one to anger. Deut.32.PROVO'KE
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
provoke
provoke
English
Verb
provoke (third-person singular simple present provokes, present participle provoking, simple past and past participle provoked)
- (transitive) To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
- Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
- Bible, Eph. vi. 4
- Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
- (transitive) To bring about a reaction.
- J. Burroughs
- To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
- J. Burroughs
- (obsolete) To appeal.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
Synonyms
- (bring about a reaction): bring about, discompose, egg on, engender, evoke, grill, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, invoke, rouse, set off, stir up, whip up
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to cause to become angry
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