All 3 Uses of
tantalize
in
In Cold Blood
- But the diary notation that most tantalized Dewey was unrelated to the Clutter-Rupp, Methodist-Catholic impasse.†
Chpt 2 *tantalized = made someone excited about getting something
- The business of the mattress box was one of the things that most tantalized Dewey.†
Chpt 2
- The day was warm, a little windy, and leaf shadows, supple emanations from the tree boughs that brushed the cell's barred window, tantalized Perry's tamed squirrel.†
Chpt 4
Definition:
to make someone excited about getting something -- often something they cannot get
The word, tantalize, comes from a Greek mythological story about the eternal punishment of someone named Tantulus. He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree. But when he reached up for the fruit, it withdrew just out of his reach. And when he bent down to drink, the water receded before his lips could reach it.