Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Definition of provoke - 7 dictionary results

pro⋅voke

  [pruh-vohk]
Use provoke in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -voked, -vok⋅ing.
1. to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.
2. to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity): The mishap provoked a hearty laugh.
3. to incite or stimulate (a person, animal, etc.) to action.
4. to give rise to, induce, or bring about: What could have provoked such an incident?
5. Obsolete. to summon.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < L prōvocāre to call forth, challenge, provoke, equiv. to prō- pro- 1 + vocāre to call; akin to vōx voice

Related forms:
pro⋅vok⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. irk, annoy, aggravate, exacerbate, infuriate. See irritate. 2. rouse, instigate. 2, 3. See incite.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To provoke
pro·voke   (prə-vōk')   
tr.v.   pro·voked, pro·vok·ing, pro·vokes
  1. To incite to anger or resentment.
  2. To stir to action or feeling.
  3. To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.
  4. To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight.

[Middle English provoken, from Old French provoquer, from Latin prōvocāre, to challenge : prō-, forth; see pro-1 + vocāre, to call; see wekw- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to move a person to action or feeling or to summon something into being by so moving a person. Provoke often merely states the consequences produced: "Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath" (Shakespeare). "A situation which in the country would have provoked meetings" (John Galsworthy).
To incite is to provoke and urge on: Members of the opposition incited the insurrection.
Excite implies a strong or emotional reaction: The movie will fail; the plot excites little interest or curiosity.
Stimulate suggests renewed vigor of action as if by spurring or goading: "Our vigilance was stimulated by our finding traces of a large ... encampment" (Francis Parkman).
To arouse means to awaken, as from inactivity or apathy; rouse means the same, but more strongly implies vigorous or emotional excitement: "In a democratic society like ours, relief must come through an aroused popular conscience that sears the conscience of the people's representatives" (Felix Frankfurter). "The oceangoing steamers ... roused in him wild and painful longings" (Arnold Bennett).
To stir is to cause activity, strong but usually agreeable feelings, trouble, or commotion: "It was him as stirred up th' young woman to preach last night" (George Eliot). "I have seldom been so ... stirred by any piece of writing" (Mark Twain). See Also Synonyms at annoy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

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.

Provoke

Pro*voke"\, v. i. 1. To cause provocation or anger.

2. To appeal.

Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : provoke
Spanish: provocar,
German: verärgern,
Japanese: 怒らせる
More Translations »

provoke 
1432, from O.Fr. provoker (14c., Fr. provoquer), from L. provocare "call forth, challenge," from pro- "forth" + vocare "to call" (see voice).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: pro·voke
Pronunciation: pr&-'vOk
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pro·voked; pro·vok·ing
1 : to incite to anger
2 : to provide the needed stimulus for —pro·vok·er noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

Main Entry: pro·voke
Pronunciation: pr&-'vOk
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pro·voked; pro·vok·ing
: to induce (a physical reaction) provokes vomiting>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see provoke on Thesaurus | Reference