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provoke
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show 189 more with this conextual meaning
  • pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study   (source)
    provoke = cause (in reaction)
  • A little girl was driving home her cow, a plodding, dilatory, provoking creature in her behavior, but a valued companion for all that.   (source)
    provoking = tending to cause a reaction -- typically an emotional reaction such as anger
  • it was very provoking to find that...   (source)
    provoking = causing an emotional reaction
  • she has provoked me when I could not bear it;   (source)
    provoked = angered
  • She said that I had provoked her, had stirred up anger in her.†   (source)
  • Muslims widely considered it blasphemous and it provoked so much outrage that it seemed people were talking of little else.†   (source)
  • Looking and hoping that someone will provoke them.†   (source)
  • It's not like Peeta attacked the Gamemakers, but at least he was provoked, too.†   (source)
  • We tried to explain that Billy had started it, that we'd been provoked and were defending ourselves and didn't even aim to kill, but the cop wasn't interested in the nuances of the situation.†   (source)
  • At first Risa had been a tool to provoke Connor into a fight, but now Roland sees her as a prize.†   (source)
  • Knowing that punishing Louie would only provoke his defiance, Louise took a surreptitious route toward reforming him.†   (source)
  • It might provoke them.†   (source)
  • Did I do anything to provoke him?†   (source)
  • Glen looked at Claude to see if he'd meant to provoke him, but Claude looked genuinely sincere.†   (source)
  • I follow her around, trying to provoke her into talking to me, but there's really no use.†   (source)
  • I went to my mother after that, but he had set guards to keep me out, and when I shouted past them she said I must be patient and not provoke him.†   (source)
  • Without fail, the dream provokes pure terror.†   (source)
  • The replies are vague, but are enough to provoke slight optimism.†   (source)
  • Thomas was horrified by the whole affair—he couldn't help feeling responsible even though he'd never done anything to provoke Ben.†   (source)
  • These folks have told me some of the funniest, saddest, and most thought-provoking stories I've ever heard.†   (source)
  • And with their one god Muslims are always causing troubles and provoking riots.†   (source)
  • She'd chosen those words to provoke a reaction.†   (source)
  • Undoubtedly, she had been provoked, but no one was sitting within earshot to prove that.†   (source)
  • This provoked Tate, who unleashed a torrent of racial slurs and threats.†   (source)
  • What could possibly provoke mirth, given that he had just a matter of weeks before he took his own life?†   (source)
  • My machine cannot help but provoke curiosity.†   (source)
  • The Ranger verdict provoked a bitter public outcry.†   (source)
  • The goal was to create tension and provoke confrontations that would force the federal government to step in and enforce the laws.†   (source)
  • The fact was that Rose hadn't complained of him hitting her in about four years—he had reformed after he broke her arm, and there was no reason to believe that he was more likely to strike out tonight than any other of the nights in the last four years when Rose had acted provoking.†   (source)
  • Chaol just provoked her …. though he had his good side, too.†   (source)
  • They didn't provoke any difficult memories.†   (source)
  • That this secret passageway to nowhere existed in our house did not comfort me; rather, it provoked me to imagine what there might be that was sufficiently threatening to hide from—and it is never comforting to imagine that.†   (source)
  • "She's not a thing, she's a human being," I wanted to scream, but I knew that I should not provoke him.†   (source)
  • The countermanding of Lola's casting decision, and the laughter in the boys it provoked, made for a shift in the balance of power.†   (source)
  • Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend's house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal.†   (source)
  • He had uttered these exact words so many times, and not once met with success, that a normal man would have given up on their power to provoke a meaningful response.†   (source)
  • By provoking his anger we may lose them all.†   (source)
  • But she reassures herself that Dimitri could easily have delivered the letter personally; the idea of him standing in the department, occupying the same space she occupies now, fills her with the same combination of desperation and lust he's always provoked.†   (source)
  • This attitude provoked scandalized comments among the ladies gathered there.†   (source)
  • This "achievement gap" is a phenomenon that has been observed over and over again, and it typically provokes one of two responses.†   (source)
  • "You are a wicked man, to provoke our Ser Alliser so," he scolded.†   (source)
  • HALE: Proctor, I cannot think God be provoked so grandly by such a petty cause.†   (source)
  • She may be selfish, stingy and underhanded, but she'll readily back down as long as you don't provoke her and make her unreasonable.†   (source)
  • Ender Wiggin has provoked Bonzo Madrid beyond human endurance.†   (source)
  • I've only had one guy come close to provoking a physical or emotional response from me once, and that turned out to be a self-induced delusion.†   (source)
  • "Good question," I said, provoking horrified laughter from Kitsey, who was popular at school and —at nine—as pretty in her white-blonde way as Andy was plain.†   (source)
  • It provoked cures galore; to ease the catarrh you boiled onions in milk blackened with pepper; for the congested passages you made a paste of boiled flour and nettles, wrapped it in a rag, and slapped it, sizzling, on the chest.†   (source)
  • "It seems to provoke her," she said.†   (source)
  • The recent proliferation on the slopes of Everest of latter -day Wilsons and Dennians-marginally qualified dreamers like some of my cohorts-is a phenomenon that has provoked strong criticism.†   (source)
  • "Opportunist actions" that would provoke Nazi reprisals should be avoided.†   (source)
  • Try to be gracious, no matter how much I am provoked to behave otherwise.†   (source)
  • She had expected to discover his anger, to provoke the bitterness, the recriminations.†   (source)
  • Why else would they have destroyed the farm in such a spectacular manner, unless they wished to provoke you into chasing them?†   (source)
  • He had a peaceful, strong manner that did not provoke anger or invite fights.†   (source)
  • Oftentimes he studies us, copying our movements, and he seems to know which words will provoke us to laugh or talk back to him, or be shocked.†   (source)
  • Once in a while, Hana would provoke a battle with George, just to show off her muscles.†   (source)
  • Essentially the Ousters had to be provoked into attacking, and the key to that provocation was the world of Hyperion.†   (source)
  • Lauren said something about you — she was trying to provoke me.†   (source)
  • Sean had decided, no matter what the potential gains, it was never worth provoking his wife.†   (source)
  • But it took another explosion to provoke savage action against them.†   (source)
  • Lincoln's April 11 speech provoked more violent talk.†   (source)
  • Perhaps this conversation brings on her hallucination, if that is what it is, or perhaps it provokes Aziz or some third party (their guide, for instance) into whatever he does, if anyone does anything.†   (source)
  • They think the chips caused the kidnapping, the murders, that somehow the chips provoked whoever did this, made the task more tempting.†   (source)
  • Growled when they chose; sulked, explained, demanded, strutted, cowered, cried and provoked each other to the edge of violence, then over.†   (source)
  • The news provoked a last gasp of collectivism from Ernst Doerfler, a prominent member of the doomed East German parliament, who called for an official ban on "McDonald's and similar abnormal garbage-makers."†   (source)
  • It was as though the sirens heralded the presence of some cont rolling mechanism--a thing we would do well not to provoke with our contentiousness and spilled food.†   (source)
  • That's what really provokes them.†   (source)
  • This provoked further controversy, and the pressure of letters continued to build up urging the Society to declare more fully its membership criteria.†   (source)
  • The dream had provoked The Great Sadness and before he could even get out of bed, he was once again fighting his way through the despair that had devoured too many of his days.†   (source)
  • Unless she was trying to provoke trouble between us?†   (source)
  • He looked at me as if anxious about what sort of reaction the information might provoke.†   (source)
  • "I seem to recall hearing rumors that you provoked that attack," says Tobias.†   (source)
  • Same questions over and over, and me trying to pretend they're thought-provoking.†   (source)
  • Until that moment she had never been fully conscious of the weight and size of the drama that she had provoked when she was not yet eighteen, and that would pursue her until her death.†   (source)
  • His mother's words had provoked another train of thought in Paul—a duke's concern for all the people they'd lost this night.†   (source)
  • I did not find a cyst but instead provoked terrific bleeding from the sites of the needle punctures.†   (source)
  • He is baiting him a little, provoking him to attack.†   (source)
  • Sophie was so provoked that she asked them again.†   (source)
  • …had seen since the fighting of the previous century, and of the centuries before that, which were of an entirely different and greater magnitude, Vienna being no stranger, in the annals of history, to war, and the militants had perhaps hoped to provoke a reaction against migrants from their own part of the world, who had been pouring into Vienna, and if that had been their hope then they had succeeded, for the young woman had learned of a mob that was intending to attack the migrants…†   (source)
  • Mameha had insisted on this to avoid provoking Hatsumomo.†   (source)
  • Armansky felt so provoked by her lack of emotional response that sometimes he wanted to grab hold of her and shake her.†   (source)
  • It would be giving him permission to provoke me further.†   (source)
  • The incident provoked her into doing what she had never done before-abandon her duties.†   (source)
  • He'd been provoked.†   (source)
  • On the first few shopping trips without Moody, I followed his instructions exactly, not wanting to provoke any anger or suspicion.†   (source)
  • So many people, crammed in one house, would provoke suffocation.†   (source)
  • Prefects were responsible for preventing disputes, not provoking them.†   (source)
  • We gathered in private houses: the Germans were not to be provoked.†   (source)
  • Usually, they denied that their husband had hit them, and in the rare instances they admitted the truth, they usually insisted it wasn't his fault; that they'd provoked him.†   (source)
  • In Doraville, a suburb north of Atlanta, a group of Latino immigrants had provoked a public outcry by playing soccer in a town cemetery.†   (source)
  • What did you do to provoke them?†   (source)
  • She seemed more normal to me but I was careful not to provoke her.†   (source)
  • I didn't see what had happened to provoke the punishment.†   (source)
  • He was intentionally provoking the Greeks, hoping for battle.†   (source)
  • That night they camped on a ledge of rock above the plains and watched the lightning all along the horizon provoke from the seamless dark the distant mountain ranges again and again.†   (source)
  • Such wayward thinking, which has a long history, generally provokes a wayward response.†   (source)
  • I felt embarrassed and showed it by flushing deeply, which provoked more tittering.†   (source)
  • Finally, this could be an attempt to provoke or divert us, drawing our attention to this while they are preparing to spring a surprise somewhere else.†   (source)
  • "I wasn't provoking you," she said.†   (source)
  • I'm being saucy, but she's provoked me.†   (source)
  • I couldn't stop thinking about my dia's pen, though, and his pride-provoking words.†   (source)
  • But a life-sized portrait of cricket hero Imran Khan on the tailgate, holding a bat aloft like a scepter, was a form of idol worship that provoked such acute national pride that few Pakistanis, even the most devout, could take offense.†   (source)
  • It was the first national coverage of the event, and the story provoked a variety of responses.†   (source)
  • Nothing to provoke such a horrible, unthinkable act.†   (source)
  • Word of his cruelty spread throughout the region, provoking jealous admiration among the men of his class.†   (source)
  • One day he had stumbled while marching to class; the next day he was formally charged with 'breaking ranks while in formation, felonious assault, indiscriminate behavior, mopery, high treason, provoking, being a smart guy, listening to classical music and so on'.†   (source)
  • They can be fierce when provoked!†   (source)
  • They, too, need certainties and simple truths to make the multitudes understand, to provoke collective tears.†   (source)
  • But in Operating Theater 3, Hema and Stone managed to provoke each other.†   (source)
  • Mrs. Nora Baines sang three stanzas of "The Old Rugged Cross," a somber, surefire tearjerker at any funeral, but at Seth's it failed to provoke emotion.†   (source)
  • Cesar's answer was intended to stifle, not provoke Angel's inquisitiveness, but it served only to encourage more questions.†   (source)
  • What would Rinehart do about this, I thought, and knowing, determined not to let her provoke me to violence.†   (source)
  • It was not so much respect for her privacy as it was the challenge she presented that provoked him to discover her from the woman alone rather than her surroundings.†   (source)
  • And someone almost always sneaked up behind someone else and clobbered them with it—usually Sam, because I was never violent until provoked—and we would hammer each other with them until they flew apart in yellow chunks and seeds.†   (source)
  • Conklin looked toward the door of the apartment, David's words suddenly provoking another thought.†   (source)
  • Bache and his kind would inevitably provoke measures to silence them, she had predicted to Mary Cranch.†   (source)
  • But it did not provoke her daughter.†   (source)
  • This was his first major offense, and the other party had provoked the fight.†   (source)
  • Her rash words provoked an uncomfortable silence.†   (source)
  • It would never do to provoke one.†   (source)
  • For some reason, this remark also provoked laughter and even the teacher joined in.†   (source)
  • Deo's father was easily provoked, as a rule, but he didn't answer.†   (source)
  • Why is Nikita Khrushchev trying to provoke the Americans into war?†   (source)
  • Very stimulating and thought-provoking.†   (source)
  • We address the controversies and issues, anxieties and assumptions, some highly emotional, provoked by language today, and our findings will be news to many.†   (source)
  • He's trying to provoke me," Pig answered.†   (source)
  • This hit another nerve with the crowd, provoking more outcries.†   (source)
  • Not Sure Why I felt the need to provoke her.†   (source)
  • Maturity's given Boyle the sense to wait until he's well provoked, and rare is it for him to throw the first punch.†   (source)
  • Why must you insist on always provoking the police?†   (source)
  • I don't want to provoke an incident.†   (source)
  • The Emancipation Proclamation provoked a new level of consciousness about the relationship of slavery to the war.†   (source)
  • April grinned, satisfied at having provoked Jalil.†   (source)
  • But the improper conduct of individual States provoked several Indian wars.†   (source)
  • Often his unpopular views, expressed disdainfully and with an air of condescension, provoked his listeners to anger.†   (source)
  • Look! don't you provoke me more than I provoke already.†   (source)
  • Provoked a demonstration in the Old City for your benefit.†   (source)
  • She showed him the bankbook then, and again the next day, and again a few days after that, trying to provoke a response.†   (source)
  • They burned hootches and shot chickens and trampled paddies and tore up fences and dumped dirt into wells and provoked madness.†   (source)
  • It was as if she were seeing how much it took to provoke a savage.†   (source)
  • He may say it to provoke his wife.†   (source)
  • I knew I should grin and say, "Why no—it's just nature," or some other disarming remark to avoid provoking him.†   (source)
  • This provoked badinage between Minnie and me, very Southern in flavor, which Leslie obviously found charming.†   (source)
  • And I see that you will not use your ring unless you are provoked.†   (source)
  • It was hard to tell what had provoked him.†   (source)
  • My panic grew, and my guilt, and my feeling that I was provoking my own destruction.†   (source)
  • They had the same look of hardened hunger that had pained her yesterday but today she felt faintly provoked.†   (source)
  • He would be so provoked he might just take a switch to her legs.†   (source)
  • He began to squeeze his way through the crush on the rear platform, provoking kicks and more abuse.†   (source)
  • It rained so hard, so long and so incessantly that the thought of a period of no rain provoked a mild wonder.†   (source)
  • His demonstrations have been designed to call attention to injustice, designed to provoke change; designed to stir reform.†   (source)
  • The Federalist leaders insisted the Embargo was an attempt by Jefferson to ruin New England prosperity, to provoke England to war, and to aid the French.†   (source)
  • Now she was analyzing the farm, and the organization of crops, in a way that made him feel humble, but also provoked him to defend himself.†   (source)
  • 'It's VERY provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from Alice as he spoke, 'to be called an egg--VERY!'   (source)
    provoking = irritating (causing an angry reaction)
  • Sometimes they would provoke us, especially right before the visitors were to come.†   (source)
  • Zeitoun had no idea what he had done to provoke the man.†   (source)
  • Not only have you struck him, you have provoked his asthma!†   (source)
  • He knew Snape was trying to provoke him; he had done this before.†   (source)
  • Were the setups meant to instigate certain conflicts or provoke reactions for WICKED's studies?†   (source)
  • Sometimes I believe it is precisely his intent to provoke me into impugning myself.†   (source)
  • Well, she provoked that one girl who hit her.†   (source)
  • Snape was trying to provoke him into telling the truth.†   (source)
  • "Don't provoke him, Laila jo," Mariam said.†   (source)
  • The basic idea behind the possibles theory was simple, and didn't provoke much dispute.†   (source)
  • 'Malfoy provoked us,' said Harry stiffly.†   (source)
  • Provoke him into an attack?" he asks me.†   (source)
  • Out into the ether of the world to wait for the circumstances that would provoke its reappearance?†   (source)
  • This is not helpful—you going round there, lying to him, provoking him.†   (source)
  • And this child's reluctance to answer her questions had provoked her.†   (source)
  • I remembered the day on the hill I had pelted Hassan with pomegranates and tried to provoke him.†   (source)
  • And them trying to pretend they're thought-provoking.†   (source)
  • It's a voice that provokes first irritation and then eagerness.†   (source)
  • You want to provoke your animal, but only so much.†   (source)
  • I can't use magic for fear of provoking him to do the same.†   (source)
  • I want to know what you've done to Mameha lately to provoke her."†   (source)
  • If anything, hiring outside lawyers seemed to provoke Monroe County officials even more.†   (source)
  • That which a deity demands of a mortal (and the fear provoked by the demand).†   (source)
  • Did Vernon mean to provoke thought, provide my life with a fresh design, a scheme , a shapeliness?†   (source)
  • "But how to provoke, how to stimulate purchases—that's the conversion rate.†   (source)
  • He claimed that the local workmen were law-abiding and would not have rioted unless provoked.†   (source)
  • Better not to provoke it now by mentioning a harmless Quaker.†   (source)
  • Any attempt to protect oneself—ducking, shielding the face—provoked greater violence.†   (source)
  • The essence of the plan was that the Ousters had to be provoked into attacking the Hegemony.†   (source)
  • He said it coolly, but he was clearly trying to provoke me.†   (source)
  • Many consider it odd that this statement provoked the worst outbreaks of violence against ecumenism.†   (source)
  • Now comes the difficult part: you must provoke the animal that is afflicting you.†   (source)
  • I'll see whether that provokes something an unnatural response, any kind of reaction.†   (source)
  • The world, whether dense or hollow, provoked only my negations.†   (source)
  • It would provoke a minor clamor, but it had to be done.†   (source)
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