only 1 use
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Definition
tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate — especially controversy, sexual desire, or anger
- I was at first at a great loss for salt, but custom soon reconciled me to the want of it; and I am confident that the frequent use of salt among us is an effect of luxury, and was first introduced only as a provocative to drink, except where it is necessary for preserving flesh in long voyages, or in places remote from great markets; for we observe no animal to be fond of it but man, and as to myself, when I left this country, it was a great while before I could endure the taste of it...Part 4 — A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnms (16% in)
There are no more uses of "provocative" in Gulliver's Travels.
Typical Usage
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