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to exasperate; to irritate; to offend intolerably; to cause to retaliate. Obey his voice, provoke him not. Ex. xxiii. 21. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Eph. vi. 4. Such acts Of contumacy will provoke the Highest To make death in us live. Milton. Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust Gray. To the p…

The act that which, provokes; one who excites anger or other passion, or incites to action; as, a provoker of sedition. Drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things. Shak.

To provoke excessively. Bp. Hall.

To exasperate; to provoke; to irritate. [Colloq.] If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine. Richardson (Clarissa).

of hostility; the first act of injury, or first act leading to a war or a controversy; unprovoked attack; assault; as, a war of aggression. "Aggressions of power." Hallam

To excite to anger; to enrage; to provoke. Taxes and impositions . . . which rather angered than grieved the people. Clarendon.

To provoke and harass; esp., to harass or torment for sport; as, to bait a bear with dogs; to bait a bull.

of an acid. -- To bite the thumb at (any one), formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel; to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us " Shak. -- To bite the tongue, to keep silence. Shak.

g all the circumstances of the case in view, to produce a subsiding of passion previously provoked. Wharton.

Chiding; reproof; reproach. [Obs.] Angry, passionate correption being rather apt to provoke, than to amend. Hammond.

To challenge; to provoke; to defy. Time, I dare thee to discover Such a youth and such a lover. Dryden.

To provoke to combat or strife; to call out to combat; to challenge; to dare; to brave; to set at defiance; to treat with contempt; as, to defy an enemy; to defy the power of a magistrate; to defy the arguments of an opponent; to defy public opinion. I once again Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight. Milton. I defy t…

discouraged in his undertaking; he need not be discouraged from a like attempt. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Col. iii. 21.

To provoke disgust or strong distaste in; to cause (any one) loathing, as of the stomach; to excite aversion in; to offend the moral taste of; -- often with at, with, or by. To disgust him with the world and its vanities. Prescott. Ærius is expressly declared . . . to have been disgusted at failing. J. H. Newman. Alarm…

often followed by with or at. It usually expresses less than to anger, vex, irritate, or provoke. God was displeased with this thing. 1 Chron. xxi. 7. Wilt thou be displeased at us forever Psalms lxxxv. 5 (Bk. of Com. Prayer). This virtuous plaster will displease Your tender sides. J. Fletcher. Adversity is so wholeso…

Queer, and fitted to provoke laughter; ludicrous from oddity; amusing and strange.

Readily; without reluctance; willingly. Not soon provoked, she easily forgives. Prior.

To fill with rage; to provoke to frenzy or madness; to make furious.

A medicine which provokes appetites, or causes hunger. [Obs.]

To irritate in a high degree; to provoke; to enrage; to exscite or to inflame the anger of; as, to exasperate a person or his feelings. To exsasperate them against the king of France. Addison.