Definitions for provoke
prəˈvoʊkpro·voke

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provokeverb

   call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

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

2. provoke, evoke, call forth, kick upverb

   evoke or provoke to appear or occur

   "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"

3. provoke, stimulateverb

   provide the needed stimulus for

4. harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provokeverb

   annoy continually or chronically

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

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.3 / 4 votes

1. provokeverb

   to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.

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

2. provokeverb

   to bring about a reaction.

3. Etymology: From provoquer, from provocare.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To PROVOKEverb

   Etymology: provoquer, Fr. provoco, Latin.

   1. To rouse; to excite by something offensive; to awake.

   Ye provoke me unto wrath, burning incense unto other Gods. Jer. xliv. 8.

   Neither to provoke nor dread
   New war provok’d. John Milton.

   To whet their courage, and their rage provoke. Dryden.

   I neither fear, nor will provoke the war. Dryden.

   2. To anger; to enrage; to offend; to incense.

   Though often provoked, by the insolence of some of the bishops, to a dislike of their overmuch fervour, his integrity to the king was without blemish. Edward Hyde.

   Such acts
   Of contumacy will provoke the highest. John Milton.

   Agamemnon provokes Apollo against them, whom he was willing to appease afterwards. Alexander Pope.

   3. To cause; to promote.

   Drink is a great provoker; it provokes and unprovokes. Sha.

   One Petro covered up his patient with warm cloaths, and when the fever began a little to decline, gave him cold water to drink till he provoked sweat. Arbuthnot.

   4. To challenge.

   He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore,
   With envy Triton heard the martial sound,
   And the bold champion for his challenge drown’d. Dryden.

   5. To induce by motive; to move; to incite.

   We may not be startled at the breaking of the exterior earth; for the face of nature hath provoked men to think of, and observe such a thing. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

2. To Provokeverb

   1. To appeal. A Latinism.

   Arius and Pelagius durst provoke
   To what the centuries preceding spoke. Dryden.

   2. To produce anger.

   It was not your brother’s evil disposition made him seek his death, but a provoking merit. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   The Lord abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons. Deutr. xxxii. 19.

   If we consider man in such a loathsome and provoking condition, was it not love enough, that he was permitted to enjoy a being. Taylor.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Provokeverb

   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. Provokeverb

   to cause provocation or anger

3. Provokeverb

   to appeal. [A Latinism]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Provoke

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

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.]

Matched Categories

1. • Challenge

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

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

How to pronounce provoke?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Hugo Cancio:

   It's amazing, this is a new beginning, a dream come true for the 11.2 million Cubans in Cuba, and I think it will provoke a change of mentality here too in this community.

2. 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.

3. Marcus Bjorkgren:

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

4. Stephen Schwartz:

   I'm not aware that such an assessment has ever been done before, a violent domestic insurrection was almost certainly not part of the DOD and Secret Service threat matrix until six months ago, and it's the only recent known event putting the' football' in significant potential danger to provoke this level of concern.

5. Dan Barina:

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

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