Library / English Dictionary

PROVOKE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide the needed stimulus for

Synonyms:

provoke; stimulate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "provoke" is one way to...):

challenge (issue a challenge to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provoke"):

entice; lure; tempt (provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion)

rejuvenate (cause (a stream or river) to erode, as by an uplift of the land)

jog (stimulate to remember)

incite; instigate; set off; stir up (provoke or stir up)

agitate; foment; stir up (try to stir up public opinion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They provoke him to write the letter

Derivation:

provocation (needed encouragement)

provocation (something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action)

provocative (serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Evoke or provoke to appear or occur

Example:

Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple

Synonyms:

call forth; evoke; kick up; provoke

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "provoke" is one way to...):

cause; do; make (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Verb group:

arouse; bring up; call down; call forth; conjure; conjure up; evoke; invoke; put forward; raise; stir (summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provoke"):

pick (provoke)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

provocation (something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

Example:

evoke sympathy

Synonyms:

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "provoke" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provoke"):

interest (excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of)

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm (overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli)

bruise; hurt; injure; offend; spite; wound (hurt the feelings of)

shame (cause to be ashamed)

discomfit; discompose; disconcert; untune; upset (cause to lose one's composure)

anger (make angry)

excite (arouse or elicit a feeling)

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

fire up; heat; ignite; inflame; stir up; wake (arouse or excite feelings and passions)

prick (to cause a sharp emotional pain)

infatuate (arouse unreasoning love or passion in and cause to behave in an irrational way)

rekindle (arouse again)

draw (elicit responses, such as objections, criticism, applause, etc.)

ask for; invite (increase the likelihood of)

strike a chord; touch a chord (evoke a reaction, response, or emotion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

provocation (something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action)

provocative (serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Annoy continually or chronically

Example:

This man harasses his female co-workers

Synonyms:

beset; chevvy; chevy; chivvy; chivy; harass; harry; hassle; molest; plague; provoke

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "provoke" is one way to...):

annoy; bother; chafe; devil; get at; get to; gravel; irritate; nark; nettle; rag; rile; vex (cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "provoke"):

goad; needle (annoy or provoke, as by constant criticism)

bedevil; crucify; dun; frustrate; rag; torment (treat cruelly)

haze (harass by imposing humiliating or painful tasks, as in military institutions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to provoke Sue

Derivation:

provocation (unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment)

provocative (serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy)

provoker (someone who deliberately foments trouble)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that provokes a broad range of cellular and physiological responses.

(IL6 Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Don't start when I chance to speak rather sharply; it's so provoking.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It is designed to provoke a specific immune response against cancer cells.

(OncoVAX, NCI Thesaurus)

She meant to avoid any such alteration of manners as might provoke a remonstrance on his side.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The easy assurance of the young couple, indeed, was enough to provoke him.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Each of the cytokines is secreted by one set of cells and provokes a response in another target set of cells, often including the cell that secretes the cytokine.

(Cytokine Network Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

These cytokines in turn provoke a range of activities, including the stimulation of neutrophil proliferation and differentiation.

(IL17 Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

It was very provoking to be arrested in the act of a first trying-on, and ordered out to make calls in her best array on a warm July day.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As well as producing toxins that directly kill their competitors, bacteria can release toxins that can act as 'provoking agents'.

(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This may be noted at rest or can be provoked by medication challenge.

(Brugada Syndrome Pattern by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)