Definitions for provoke
prəˈvoʊkpro·voke

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provoke(verb)

   call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

   "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy"

2. provoke, evoke, call forth, kick up(verb)

   evoke or provoke to appear or occur

   "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"

3. provoke, stimulate(verb)

   provide the needed stimulus for

4. harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke(verb)

   annoy continually or chronically

   "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers"

Wiktionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. provoke(Verb)

   to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.

   Don't provoke the dog, it may try to bite you.

   Etymology: From provoquer, from provocare.

2. provoke(Verb)

   to bring about a reaction.

   Etymology: From provoquer, from provocare.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Provoke(verb)

   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

2. Provoke(verb)

   to cause provocation or anger

3. Provoke(verb)

   to appeal. [A Latinism]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Provoke

   Provoke is the third album of Dutch death metal band Altar. It was released in 1998 by Displeased Records.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Provoke

   prō-vōk′, v.t. to call forth: to summon: to excite or call into action: to excite with anger: to offend: (B.) to challenge.—n. Provocā′tion, act of provoking: that which provokes: any cause of danger.—adjs. Provoc′ative, Provoc′atory, tending to provoke or excite.—n. anything that stirs up or provokes.—n. Provoc′ativeness, the quality of being provocative.—adj. Provō′kable.—ns. Provōke′ment (Spens.), provocation; Provō′ker, one who, or that which, provokes, causes, or promotes.—adj. Provō′king, irritating.—adv. Provō′kingly.—The provocation, the sojourn of the Jews in the wilderness, when they provoked God. [Fr. provoquer—L. provocāre, pro, forth, vocāre, to call.]

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'provoke' in Verbs Frequency: #721

How to pronounce provoke?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say provoke in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of provoke in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of provoke in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of provoke in a Sentence

1. Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko:

   Those who try to give us advice on matters of human rights do nothing but provoke an ironic smile among us. We will not permit anyone to interfere in our affairs.

2. Sean Spicer:

   I think the one thing that people forget is that at the end of the day, our failure to comply with NAFTA is going to result in the loss of more jobs here in America, there are consequences for this kind of action, and they tend to build upon each other and provoke more responses. Is that really the kind of path we want to go down?

3. Linda Hartke:

   If ISIS had hoped that their attacks in Paris would provoke the United States and its allies to react with small-minded panic, some governors are helping them get their wish.

4. Tong Zhao:

   Being called a weak leader (by a US president), I think, this is the first time I remember hearing it. It could potentially provoke North Korea ... Being called weak will only encourage them to appear more strong.

5. Tim Kaine:

   I still think there's a real issue about the US attempting to provoke stuff, i think the Trump administration would like Americans to believe that it's Iran acting, or potentially acting, unilaterally against us, but I think the US is trying to provoke them.

Images & Illustrations of provoke

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