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(3.25 / 4 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.

   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. Israel Nitzan:

   I have news for The Palestinians : you can not agitate and provoke your way to a state.

2. Johannes Herber:

   I understand the The IOC argument that it does not want to turn the Games into a competition of political messages, some countries are very sensitive an even a minor message could provoke emotions.

3. John McCain:

   The argument that I hear from the administration is that we don't want to provoke Vladimir Putin. That is just Orwellian... history will judge this administration incredibly harshly, the only thing that will dissuade Vladimir Putin from what he is doing is when coffins come back to the families in Russia.

4. Marco Rubio:

   I don't think it's a real request, i think President Trump did it to get you guys. I think President Trump did it to provoke you to ask me and others and get outraged by it. President Trump plays it like a violin and everyone falls into it. That's not a real request.

5. 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.

Images & Illustrations of provoke

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