provoke

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“
One side will provoke, the other resent.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. transitive verb To incite to anger or resentment.
  2. transitive verb To stir to action or feeling.
  3. transitive verb To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • I wanted to see an sf film do what sf was designed to do --- provoke a thought, or two, or three. —  EBSCOhost
  • And although Rosa might have foreseen the reply she would provoke, her heart thumped when she heard him. —  Jean-Christophe, Vol. I
  • Because the hostility you provoke is the whole point. —  Tales of the Freewayblogger
  • He's a mean little boy with a vengeance only impalement can provoke, and he's watching. —  StyleList Fashion Blog
  • He's a mean little boy with a vengeance only impalement can provoke, and he's —  Splendora -
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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provoke:   provoked ·  provoking ·  provokes
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. 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.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English provoken, from Old French (and F.) provoquer = Spanish Portuguese provocar = Italian provocare, from Latin provocare, call forth, call out, challenge, summon, appeal, incite, excite, provoke, from pro, forth, + vocare, call, summon, convoke: see vocation. Cf. avoke, convoke, evoke, invoke, revoke.
 

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/prəˈvoʊk/
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