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provocation
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  • She had not planned it, but the question, which she had quite forgotten, from the Book of Common Prayer, was a provocation.†   (source)
  • "Princess Alyss is dead!" the tree said loudly, as if for the benefit of an unseen but all-hearing force liable to inflict great hurt at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Try not to stab your sister, whatever the provocation.†   (source)
  • In winter her hands got so red and cracked, they bled at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Rachel, who sighted imaginary snakes at the least provocation, said, "Jeez oh man," rolled her eyes, and announced her plan to pass the next twelve months in bed.†   (source)
  • Essentially the Ousters had to be provoked into attacking, and the key to that provocation was the world of Hyperion.†   (source)
  • The man, in an almost deliberate provocation, reached out and touched the fence.†   (source)
  • It was a composure born of extreme provocation.†   (source)
  • Lesser butlers will abandon their professional being for the private one at the least provocation.†   (source)
  • At the slightest provocation the crowd would become panic-stricken, rushing from one side of the street to the other, choking, pressing close, shouting and cursing.†   (source)
  • Although some disturbances had already occurred, and the troops had committed all kinds of retaliatory abuses, Florentino Ariza was so befuddled that he was unaware of the state of the world, and a military patrol surprised him one dawn as he disturbed the chastity of the dead with his amorous provocations.†   (source)
  • Seldom to the point of death unless there were outrageous profit or provocation in it.†   (source)
  • Phaedrus' provocation informed the Chairman that his substantive field was now philosophy, not English composition.†   (source)
  • And we're not going to be stopped by military provocations.†   (source)
  • For a week or more the Chairman was upset, and snapped at his servants and me without the least provocation.†   (source)
  • From that moment on, to his dismay, he was nicknamed Kalle Blomkvist by his peers—an epithet employed with taunting provocation, not unfriendly but not really friendly either.†   (source)
  • Roran froze, ready to draw his hammer at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Most people, fortunately, do not respond with murderous out-bursts even under extreme provocation.†   (source)
  • The human condition meant that this number approached zero without reaching it-you never really completely gave up hope; it might come flooding back at any provocation.†   (source)
  • In the space of days he changed into a brooding shell of a man who snapped at me and the kids at the slightest, often imagined, provocation.†   (source)
  • He heard about all the traffic tickets refugees had been receiving, the verbal abuse from officers, and complaints about the way police seemed to react with extreme aggression at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • At the least provocation, she would burst out crying, lose her temper, or threaten to end up in Bellevue, the place, she had learned, where crazy people were sent in this country.†   (source)
  • You must have had some provocation.†   (source)
  • The pack is not attacking the Cullens without provocation.†   (source)
  • This situation is at the least unsettling, and at the most a grave and wholly unwarranted provocation.†   (source)
  • Killing them in their home without provocation would be rude!†   (source)
  • An aircraft in flight was a provocation too strong to ignore.†   (source)
  • "Well, sir, I hate to do this to you, but I've got a number of witnesses who say you attacked Mr. Franklin without provocation.†   (source)
  • And with a man's pride I wanted to prove that to her, to humiliate her for what she had said to me, for the cheap vanity of her provocation and the eyes that looked away from me now in disgust.†   (source)
  • Later on he learned to manage these fits, but he was left with a short temper, which needed very little provocation to blossom into terrible attacks.†   (source)
  • He found himself ostracized in the squadron by men who cursed his memory foully for having supplied Colonel Cathcart with provocation to raise the number of combat missions.†   (source)
  • When she took her clothes off, it wasn't so much erotic provocation as an odd little caper, a happening a deux.†   (source)
  • His cheeks and the tip of his nose were covered with twitchy blood vessels, ready to flush at the least provocation.†   (source)
  • She did not get hysterical, no matter what the provocation.†   (source)
  • It was an act of outright provocation.†   (source)
  • The Brotherhood is against violence and terror and provocation of any kind-aggressive, that is.†   (source)
  • Adams questioned how that could be, given there had been no injury, insult, or provocation on either side.†   (source)
  • Rowan's provocations have been so brazen that news of my impending visit nearly triggered an uprising in Blys.†   (source)
  • He addressed Francisco once, without provocation, stopping him in the middle of the lawn to say in a tone of aggressive self-righteousness: "I think that now that you've reached college age, you ought to learn something about ideals.†   (source)
  • He cried easily and withdrew at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Like many a veteran of repeated combats, Alessandro was unable to avoid provocation.†   (source)
  • And if that sounds like a crock of today's Communist propaganda, it was a classic case of yesterday's provocation that gave rise to such bilge.†   (source)
  • The trappers whom I interviewed informed me that wolves were rapidly destroying the caribou herds; that each wolf killed thousands of caribou a year just out of blood-lust, while no trapper would think of shooting a caribou except under the most severe provocation.†   (source)
  • You want a provocation.†   (source)
  • After that series of provocations, the city exploded into a riot.†   (source)
  • Each selected comrade will spend three weeks attending Branch discussions, studying progress in industry and social welfare and seeing at first-hand the evidence of fascist provocation by the West.†   (source)
  • Dark, pretty, desperately shy, blushes scarlet at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Now the hallucination has become a provocation.†   (source)
  • Fortunately or unfortunately, few follow that urge—but the provocation is there—not only from unreasonable letters and impossible requests, but also from hopelessly inconsistent demands and endlessly unsatisfied grievances.†   (source)
  • I do not know what justification there was for these acts, nor what provocation had been given.†   (source)
  • Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.†   (source)
  • "Well I don't," said Uncle Jack, "not unless there's extreme provocation connected with 'em."   (source)
  • the result was a provocation of vigorous investigation
  • But Nelson as a pupil is apt to turn teacher himself at the least provocation.†   (source)
  • Without the slightest provocation on her part, he had struck her on the shoulders with his baton.†   (source)
  • And not just provocation to dismissal either.†   (source)
  • To that end, they crafted outrageous provocations and wove them into their chatter.†   (source)
  • You've seen what they did here, and that was without provocation," says Haymitch.†   (source)
  • His provocation to dismissal was given an expected reception.†   (source)
  • The incidents were always preceded by some kind of provocation.†   (source)
  • Greg had started to wet the bed again and would fly into tantrums at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • We shall consider the act to be a severe provocation….†   (source)
  • There were many people who had sufficient insight to suspect that it was a question of provocation.†   (source)
  • How can you expect us to regard this as anything other than a provocation?†   (source)
  • Huh—I wondered if Sam would consider my death provocation.†   (source)
  • Galbatorix's soldiers attacked us without provocation.†   (source)
  • I feel a strong temptation and have great provocation to plunge into political controversy.†   (source)
  • You could get pretty angry with less provocation.†   (source)
  • It was a case of provocation and murder!†   (source)
  • Whatever provocation they make, we will not react to it.†   (source)
  • Possibly an attack mission, probably not, it had in any case been a provocation.†   (source)
  • His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation.†   (source)
  • Trying to avoid misunderstandings and provocations, he prohibited the favorite pastime during river voyages in those days, which was to shoot the alligators sunning themselves on the broad sandy banks.†   (source)
  • I do not care what provocation Malfoy offered you, I do not care if he insulted every family member you possess, your behavior was disgusting and I am giving each of you a week's worth of detentions!†   (source)
  • If I may return to my earlier metaphor - you will excuse my putting it so coarsely they are like a man who will, at the slightest provocation, tear off his suit and his shirt and run about screaming.†   (source)
  • When he regained consciousness, he was as strong as ever, but sullen; on occasion he failed to recognize his friends; and without the slightest provocation he could explode in anger toward his own sisters—as if he'd been put to bed one man and had risen from bed another.†   (source)
  • Then she sat down at her dead husband's desk and wrote Florentino Ariza a letter consisting of three irrational pages so full of insults and base provocations that it brought her the consolation of consciously committing the vilest act of her long life.†   (source)
  • And in our village, believe you me, people die for the slightest provocation so there are not that many old people still hanging around.†   (source)
  • He then sat down and penned, to the Chairman of the Committee on Analysis of Ideas and Methods at the University of Chicago, a letter which can only be described as a provocation to dismissal, in which the writer refuses to skulk quietly out the back door but instead creates a scene of such proportions the opposition is forced to throw him out the front door, thus giving weight to the provocation it didn't formerly have.†   (source)
  • This was one provocation too many.†   (source)
  • In an attempt to expand his borders, he declared war against us, though we had offered no provocation.†   (source)
  • To send Prince Oberyn to King's Landing while the city still hosted Lord Mace Tyrell, two of his sons, and thousands of their men-at-arms was a provocation as dangerous as Prince Oberyn himself.†   (source)
  • He is looking for some provocation.†   (source)
  • And this is spoken as a provocation, a form of censure that has nothing to do with a train ride to the Bronx.†   (source)
  • Blanca stopped wearing her risque lingerie, because she decided that it was an unnecessary provocation that made her look ridiculous.†   (source)
  • But the truth never came to light, and the version always prevailed that the royal guard, without provocation of any kind, took up combat positions upon a signal from their commander and opened fire without pity on the crowd.†   (source)
  • "However," the foreman continued, "in light of the defendant's honesty, her genuine remorse, and the severe provocation preceding the crimes, the jury has elected to suspend the sentence and place Miss Shrope on probationary supervision for a period of five years."†   (source)
  • The chaplain agreed and did report for duty to the officers' club every night to mingle with men who wanted to avoid him, until the evening the vicious fist fight broke out at the ping-pong table and Chief White Halfoat whirled without provocation and punched Colonel Moodus squarely in the nose, knocking Colonel Moodus down on the seat of his pants and making General Dreedle roar with lusty, unexpected laughter until he spied the chaplain standing close by gawking at him grotesquely in…†   (source)
  • He had served so many kings, he could not help but imagine how they might have reacted to this provocation.†   (source)
  • And with a man's pride I wanted to prove that to her, to humiliate her for what she had said to me, for the cheap vanity of her provocation and the eyes that looked away from me now in disgust.†   (source)
  • He also did it as a provocation.†   (source)
  • He forbade anyone to talk back to him and could tolerate no opposition; he viewed the slightest disagreement as a provocation.†   (source)
  • My point was that the agency has had three whole months to raise the objection—to show up with that kind of objection after proceedings have started is an unwarranted provocation.†   (source)
  • It was all too evident that she was completely naked underneath her crude nightshirt and no one could understand that her shaved and perfect skull was not some kind of challenge, and that the boldness with which she uncovered her thighs to cool off was not a criminal provocation, nor was her pleasure when she sucked her fingers after. eating.†   (source)
  • When Eragon removed his support, Orik swayed from one side to the other, achieving such precarious angles that he threatened to topple at the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • Seeing her with her wind-reddened nose, and laughing at the slightest provocation, Esteban swore that sooner or later she would come to love him as he needed to be loved, even if it meant he had to resort to extreme measures.†   (source)
  • Evenings out were a provocation.†   (source)
  • They would stop and huddle underneath a tree until the storm abated, but even then water cached in the myriad branches would, at the slightest provocation, shower them with droplets for hours afterward.†   (source)
  • Sims spoke to both of us but mainly to Jesse Detwiler because this was the visionary in our midst, the waste theorist whose provocations had spooked the industry.†   (source)
  • The 'rescue' has been successfully concluded, and the further presence of the Soviet fleet can only be a provocation.†   (source)
  • They shouted until they were hoarse, fought at the slightest provocation, and came to resemble two filthy little urchins with scabby knees and heads full of lice, replete with warm freshly picked fruit, sun, and freedom.†   (source)
  • It is not our intention to make a provocation of our own, but under the terms of our agreement we have the right to know what is going on, Mr. Ambassador.†   (source)
  • " "Because Stralbo wisely and courageously decided to refrain from reacting to their provocations," Gorshkov replied.†   (source)
  • It was better, he believed, for the South—in spite of provocation—to accept defeat on this occasion.†   (source)
  • Yet the man who would later be a bold President—and father of an independent Senator and President—not only remained as counsel, but acquitted his clients of the murder charge, demonstrating to a packed courtroom that no evidence was at hand to show that the firing was malicious and without provocation: Whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.†   (source)
  • I lose my temper on the slightest provocation, flare up, and then it's all over.†   (source)
  • "All the same," said the King, "there seems to have been a good deal of provocation.†   (source)
  • He hurried through his plea of provocation, and then he, too, started in about my soul.†   (source)
  • You must realize that you have given Professor Peterkin great provocation.†   (source)
  • Even the funereal tint of her costume seemed to add to the provocation.†   (source)
  • We agreed to ignore any further provocations.†   (source)
  • Then Keating wandered aimlessly through the halls, snarling at young draftsmen without provocation.†   (source)
  • Murder of malice aforethought… Provocation… Extenuating circumstances.†   (source)
  • She had a heart which fluttered at any excitement and she pampered it shamelessly, fainting at any provocation.†   (source)
  • He used every tneane of provocation; from his conduct, step by step, there can be no inference except that he had determined upon a death by martyrdom.†   (source)
  • I am frightened and think quickly what I ought to do; for everyone knows that the surgeons in the dressing stations amputate on the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • "Such as thy arrival," Pablo said softly and Robert Jordan looked across the table at him, saw it was not a provocation but only an expressed thought, then went on.†   (source)
  • …POLITICS (New York) (4) All the "best people" from the gentlemen's clubs, and all the frantic fascist captains, united in common hatred of Socialism and bestial horror of the rising tide of the mass revolutionary movement, have turned to acts of provocation, to foul incendiarism, to medieval legends of poisoned wells, to legalize their own destruction of proletarian organizations, and rouse the agitated petty-bourgeoisie to chauvinistic fervor on behalf of the fight against the…†   (source)
  • The ocean was waiting with grand and bitter provocations, as if it invited you to think how deep it was, how much colder than your blood or saltier, or to outguess it, to tell which were its feints or passes and which its real intentions, meaning business.†   (source)
  • On the slightest provocation they give themselves over to the strangest notions that they can see nothing and read nothing any longer in the eyes of other men and then nothing seems right to them.†   (source)
  • He knew that what he was saying was absurd in its injustice; he admitted inwardly, and at last even aloud, the truth of all that the Savage now said about the worthlessness of friends who could be turned upon so slight a provocation into persecuting enemies.†   (source)
  • Well after he was grown up he would still occasionally strike his servant in moments of anger, and somewhat later, according to his English biographer, Derrick Leon, he felt "a frequent desire upon the slenderest provocation to slap the faces of those with whom he disagreed".†   (source)
  • Don't give any provocation.†   (source)
  • The art of provocation was unknown to me, and I would sit with his map upon my lap, the wind blowing my dull, lanky hair, happy in his silence yet eager for his words.†   (source)
  • She went into Kayo Obermark's the same way--we had the attic between the three of us; it just was proximity; even if provocation was never far away it came simply from unremitting practice, like that of the fiddler who has a rubber ball in the pocket of his great alpacuna as he rides the train to a concert and is never far from, for him, the greatest thing, along the accidentals and slides of landscape and steel rail.†   (source)
  • She was a woman upon whose action under provocation you could never count.†   (source)
  • (Excuse the expression, ma'am: you'd use it yourself if you had my provocation).†   (source)
  • Do you mean Nels would shoot upon little provocation?†   (source)
  • I never gave her the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • She snaps his head off on the faintest provocation, or on none.†   (source)
  • True; but I have been tossed to and fro in doubt if I ought, after such strong provocation.†   (source)
  • He went on to say, "Last night she ran off without the least provocation.†   (source)
  • To the Nazarene they were hours of insult, provocation, and slow dying.†   (source)
  • "He'll think you mean that as a provocation!†   (source)
  • I was too severe; but O, Eustacia, the provocation!†   (source)
  • But as society has not the courage to kill them, and, when it catches them, simply wreaks on them some superstitious expiatory rites of torture and degradation, and than lets them loose with heightened qualifications for mischief; it is just as well that they are at large in the Sierra, and in the hands of a chief who looks as if he might possibly, on provocation, order them to be shot.†   (source)
  • We were sitting at a table with a man of about my age and a rowdy little girl, who gave way upon the slightest provocation to uncontrollable laughter.†   (source)
  • He had swept it out of existence, as it seemed, without any provocation, as a boy might crush an ant hill, in the mere wantonness of power.†   (source)
  • He had not the same provocations of exhaustion and hopelessness; he had now something to work for, to struggle for.†   (source)
  • But he was a servant of the Government, it was his job to avoid "incidents," so he said nothing, and ignored the provocation that Aziz continued to offer.†   (source)
  • Florence replied that the cowboys would upon the slightest provocation treat Don Carlos with less ceremony and gentleness than a roped steer.†   (source)
  • The tone of this last "but you" (poor Brierly couldn't help it), that seemed to imply I was no more noticeable than an insect, caused me to look at the proposal with indignation, and on account of that provocation, or for some other reason, I became positive in my mind that the inquiry was a severe punishment to that Jim, and that his facing it—practically of his own free will—was a redeeming feature in his abominable case.†   (source)
  • A "miners' meeting," called on the spot, decided that the dog had sufficient provocation, and Buck was discharged.†   (source)
  • The idea of bandying Ellen Olenska's name with him at such a time, and on whatsoever provocation, was unthinkable.†   (source)
  • In the present instance the stage is a scrubbed gun deck, and one of the external provocations a man—of-war's-man's spilled soup.†   (source)
  • Monkeys are unreasonable animals; they delight in developing tuberculosis on no provocation whatever; in captivity they have a liking for epidemics; and they make scenes by cursing at their masters in seven dialects.†   (source)
  • They had but to appear on deck at the same time, when they would be at it, cursing, snarling, striking; and I have seen Leach fling himself upon Wolf Larsen without warning or provocation.†   (source)
  • There was none of the confusion and provocation of spring down on the plains—no seething in the depths, no damp odors, no sultry vapors.†   (source)
  • Nevertheless, I might have contented myself with the story pieced together from these hints had it not been for the provocation of Mrs. Hale's silence, and-a little later-for the accident of personal contact with the man.†   (source)
  • It must have been this, I suppose, that stirred in my soul that tempest of impatience with which I listened to the civilities of my unhappy victim; I declare, at least, before God, no man morally sane could have been guilty of that crime upon so pitiful a provocation; and that I struck in no more reasonable spirit than that in which a sick child may break a plaything.†   (source)
  • The provocation in her eyes increased his amusement—he had not supposed she would waste her powder on such small game; but perhaps she was only keeping her hand in; or perhaps a girl of her type had no conversation but of the personal kind.†   (source)
  • His temper continued very uncertain; for the most part his manner was that of a man suffering under almost unendurable provocation, and once or twice things were snapped, torn, crushed, or broken in spasmodic gusts of violence.†   (source)
  • Quite aside from any conceivable motive actuating the Master-at-arms, and irrespective of the provocation to the blow, a martial court must needs in the present case confine its attention to the blow's consequence, which consequence justly is to be deemed not otherwise than as the striker's deed.†   (source)
  • No one, for instance, could have made a more typical Goya than Carry Fisher, with her short dark-skinned face, the exaggerated glow of her eyes, the provocation of her frankly-painted smile.†   (source)
  • To be sure, just as Herr Settembrini had put it so graphically, the comforts on an ocean liner allowed one only superficially to forget the real situation and its dangers, and there was, if he might be permitted to add a comment of his own, even a kind of frivolous provocation about that perfect comfort, somewhat like what the ancients called hubris (in his desire to please, he was even citing the classics)—"I am the king of Babylon," and that sort of thing—in a word, sacrilege.†   (source)
  • Though in the hour of elemental uproar or peril he was everything that a sailor should be, yet under sudden provocation of strong heart-feeling, his voice otherwise singularly musical, as if expressive of the harmony within, was apt to develop an organic hesitancy, in fact, more or less of a stutter or even worse.†   (source)
  • I was brought up to be just like him, unable to control myself, and using bad language on the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • But I have other provocations.†   (source)
  • It is not the least among the strange things bred by the intense artificialness of sea-usages, that while in the open air of the deck some officers will, upon provocation, bear themselves boldly and defyingly enough towards their commander; yet, ten to one, let those very officers the next moment go down to their customary dinner in that same commander's cabin, and straightway their inoffensive, not to say deprecatory and humble air towards him, as he sits at the head of the table;…†   (source)
  • Don Quixote took windmills for giants, and sheep for armies; d'Artagnan took every smile for an insult, and every look as a provocation—whence it resulted that from Tarbes to Meung his fist was constantly doubled, or his hand on the hilt of his sword; and yet the fist did not descend upon any jaw, nor did the sword issue from its scabbard.†   (source)
  • Bankruptcy must inevitably have come of this young Pagan, in Lombard-street, London, and also of a curtained alcove in the rear of the immortal boy, and also of a looking-glass let into the wall, and also of clerks not at all old, who danced in public on the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • In such a case—that is, when he has been, so to speak, notified—a man must be on hand to receive the provocation.†   (source)
  • I cannot believe that he has done this deed, unless in self-defence, or on some justifiable provocation.†   (source)
  • It little mattered whether my curiosity irritated him; I knew the pleasure of vexing and soothing him by turns; it was one I chiefly delighted in, and a sure instinct always prevented me from going too far; beyond the verge of provocation I never ventured; on the extreme brink I liked well to try my skill.†   (source)
  • I did this very gently, however, because, though the civilest, nay, the blandest and most reverential of men in the morning, yet in the afternoon he was disposed, upon provocation, to be slightly rash with his tongue, in fact, insolent.†   (source)
  • You yourself,' said Mr Meagles, persuasively, as if the provocation to be angry were not his own at all, 'want to give the poor passionate girl another chance, I know, Clennam.'†   (source)
  • On the present occasion, he was reluctant to proceed to extremities, although the provocation was so great.†   (source)
  • However, she said, "Your servant, sir," and curtsied with an air of perfect deference as she advanced towards him: she was not the woman to misbehave towards her betters, and fly in the face of the catechism, without severe provocation.†   (source)
  • Fix's manner had not changed; but Passepartout was very reserved, and ready to strangle his former friend on the slightest provocation.†   (source)
  • She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own species.†   (source)
  • And then not to neglect Pansy, not under any provocation to neglect her—this she had made an article of religion.†   (source)
  • …and passion of the true normal interests of man; with irony he will upbraid the short-sighted fools who do not understand their own interests, nor the true significance of virtue; and, within a quarter of an hour, without any sudden outside provocation, but simply through something inside him which is stronger than all his interests, he will go off on quite a different tack--that is, act in direct opposition to what he has just been saying about himself, in opposition to the laws of…†   (source)
  • The case, as represented by the offended parties, was that, after seizing the transports, Major Denisov, being drunk, went to the chief quartermaster and without any provocation called him a thief, threatened to strike him, and on being led out had rushed into the office and given two officials a thrashing, and dislocated the arm of one of them.†   (source)
  • Sir Mulberry was sarcastic; Lord Frederick was excited, and struck him in the heat of provocation, and under circumstances of great aggravation.†   (source)
  • Edgar, flashing with fury, dominated all the others with his clearer voice; Ashton hurled homicidal provocations at him in deep notes; Lucie uttered her shrill plaint, Arthur at one side, his modulated tones in the middle register, and the bass of the minister pealed forth like an organ, while the voices of the women repeating his words took them up in chorus delightfully.†   (source)
  • But there is no one thing which men so rarely do, whatever the provocation or inducement, as to bequeath patrimonial property away from their own blood.†   (source)
  • The general proposed to cast lots for the swords, but the president said it was he who had given the provocation, and when he had given it he had supposed each would use his own arms.†   (source)
  • The learned gentleman who weeps by the pint on the smallest provocation has not shed a tear these six weeks.†   (source)
  • The sight of Mrs Clay in such favour, and of Anne so overlooked, was a perpetual provocation to her there; and vexed her as much when she was away, as a person in Bath who drinks the water, gets all the new publications, and has a very large acquaintance, has time to be vexed.†   (source)
  • "It is well and wisely spoken, brave Robin Hood," said Wilfred, apart; "and know, moreover, that they who jest with Majesty even in its gayest mood are but toying with the lion's whelp, which, on slight provocation, uses both fangs and claws."†   (source)
  • These ruinous huts seemed to solicit charity from passers-by; and on very small provocation we should have given alms for the relief of the poor inmates.†   (source)
  • Further on, p.150, he tells us that there is no example of an Indian who, having fallen into the hands of his enemies, begged for his life; on the contrary, the captive sought to obtain death at the hands of his conquerors by the use of insult and provocation.†   (source)
  • It is worth the expense of youthful days and costly hours, if you learn only some words of an ancient language, which are raised out of the trivialness of the street, to be perpetual suggestions and provocations.†   (source)
  • We heard what the rich man said, we knew of his villa, his grove, his wine, and his company, but the provocation and point of the invitation came out of these beguiling stars.†   (source)
  • There was only one thing that was capable of arousing her, and that provocation came in on the side of her unusually gentle and sympathetic nature;—anything in the shape of cruelty would throw her into a passion, which was the more alarming and inexplicable in proportion to the general softness of her nature.†   (source)
  • The last to leave was a round-shouldered, blinking young man of nineteen or twenty, whose mouth fell ajar on the slightest provocation, seemingly because there was no chin to support it.†   (source)
  • Laurie spoke excitedly, and looked ready to carry his threat into execution on the slightest provocation, for he was growing up very fast and, in spite of his indolent ways, had a young man's hatred of subjection, a young man's restless longing to try the world for himself.†   (source)
  • The young woman, whose eyelids were apparently inclined to fall together on the smallest provocation of silence, yawned without parting her lips to any inconvenient extent, whereupon Gabriel caught the infection and slightly yawned in sympathy.†   (source)
  • He told Chambers that under no provocation whatever was he privileged to lift his hand against his little master.†   (source)
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