Definitions for provoke
prəˈvoʊkpro·voke

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 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(0.00 / 0 votes)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.

2. provoke(Verb)

   to bring about a reaction.

Origin: 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. Bruce Riedel:

   If Mansour is dead it will provoke a crisis inside the Taliban.

2. Robert Baer:

   It would be Sunni against Shia, who knows what that would provoke ?

3. Dan Barina:

   We're not here to provoke anybody, we're here to work with our allies.

4. Marcus Bjorkgren:

   You don't provoke each other, but you keep a close eye and show your presence.

5. Aissa Zanzen:

   Wilders is out to provoke Muslims and he has done everything he can to do that.

Images & Illustrations of provoke

Popularity rank by frequency of use