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provoke

7 dictionary results for: provoke

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pro·voke

[pruh-vohk] Pronunciation Key

–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pro·voke (prə-vōk') Pronunciation Key
tr.v. pro·voked, pro·vok·ing, pro·vokes

To incite to anger or resentment.
To stir to action or feeling.
To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.
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 wek^w- 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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
provoke

1432, from O.Fr. provoker (14c., Fr. provoquer), from L. provocare "call forth, challenge," from pro- "forth" + vocare "to call" (see voice).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

provoke
verb
1.	call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" [syn: arouse]
2.	evoke or provoke to appear or occur; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"
3.	provide the needed stimulus for
4.	annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"

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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
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

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Provoke

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

2. To appeal.

Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.] --Dryden.