verb
definition
To cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
example
Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
definition
To bring about a reaction.
definition
To appeal.
Examples of provoke in a Sentence
At home, however, it undoubtedly tended to provoke that very revolution which it was intended to prevent.
But repression served only to provoke opposition.
If not, I'm sure I can provoke you.
A hot iron is applied to the skin to burn through into the damaged tendon to provoke a healing response.
Depression in the silk trade could provoke widespread unrest.
By just being in close proximity, the Referee can (without actually doing anything) provoke a spontaneous outburst from irate players.
Inhalation tests may provoke an asthma attack.
In chronic schistosomiasis, ova penetrating the bowel wall from the splanchnic venous circulation can provoke a local inflammatory response leading to granuloma formation.
Ceramic tableware - Lisa Marklew Salt & Pepper pots - Shona Carnegie Many items will provoke the question, Is it functional or ornamental?
It 's her mellifluous tones and rich vibrato that she employs to color her personalized repertoire which provoke responses like these.
Hopefully your vet has thoroughly examined your wayward boy for any physical ailment that provoke the spraying behavior.
If this doesn't provoke an allergic reaction in you, then perhaps you've finally found those elusive non allergenic cats you've been searching for.
If you really hated your job, then losing it can actually provoke feelings of happiness and relief amidst the concern.
Either way, these toys provoke a definite response from your pet and enhance play time.
While she may provoke a startle response from your garden visitors, an Argiope at your garden gate is a sentry, protecting you and your garden plants from wasps, mosquitos, aphids, grasshoppers, and several other pests.
These may or may not provoke your allergies, but it's important to check.
Provocation tests may provoke an allergic reaction by exposing the individual to reactive allergens.
These white blood cells also provoke more inflammation, continuing the downward spiral that marks untreated CF.
Disturbing a female black widow or its web may provoke a bite.
A child's inability in these areas can also cause a sense of failure and provoke a life-long aversion to organized sports.
Infants who are premature, mentally retarded, or have physical handicaps are more likely to provoke abuse from their caregiver than are infants without such problems.
These delays, in concert with their parents' higher-than-normal expectations for their children's self-care and self-control abilities, may provoke additional abuse.
Stimuli that may provoke a reaction include surgery, especially gastrointestinal surgery; a change to a low fat diet, which includes an increased number of wheat-based foods; severe emotional stress; or a viral infection.
Human leuckocyte antigen (HLA)-A group of protein molecules located on bone marrow cells that can provoke an immune response.
Because calcium and magnesium must remain balanced, magnesium levels below 0.5 mE/l can provoke a decline in serum calcium levels.
If deficiency is due to prolonged depletion, treatment may include injections of magnesium sulfate; if severe enough to provoke convulsions, intravenous infusions may be given.
Nightmares provoke a feeling of imminent physical danger with a sensation of being trapped or suffocated.
It was all-important that whatever victories Garibaldi might win should be won for the Italian kingdom, and, above all, that no ill-timed attack on the Papal States should provoke an intervention of the powers.
The climate is characterized by hot days and cool nights, and is considered healthy, though the daily change tends to provoke bronchial, catarrhal and inflammatory diseases.
At a later period, when the Church had learnt to look with suspicion upon devotional books likely to provoke the scoffing of some and lead others into heresy, a work of this kind could hardly meet with her approval.
This sufficed to provoke the defiance of the Danes, and on the 1st of February 1864 the Austrian and D h Prussian troops crossed the Eider.
Still, Joseph only touched the surface; his brother, the grand-duke Leopold of Tuscany, aspired to cut deeper, and provoke a religious revival on the lines of Jansenism.
On the 29th of March, two days before its arrival, a sepoy named Manghal Pandi, from whom the mutineers afterwards came to be spoken of as "Pandies," drunk with bhang and enthusiasm, attempted to provoke a mutiny in the 34th Bengal infantry, and shot the adjutant, but Hearsey's personal courage suppressed the danger.
The only result of the long series of insurrections was to provoke the king to a cruelty which he had not at first shown, and to give him an excuse for confiscating and dividing among his foreign knights and barons the immense majority of the estates of the English theglihood.
There was a point beyond which it was unwise to provoke the baronage or the commons, and, unlike his flighty and thriftless father, he knew where that point came.
The less popular device of turning old manorial arable land into sheep-runs was also known, but does not yet seem to have grown so common as to provoke the popular discontents which were to prevail under the Tudors.
Other pupils provoke peers and are confrontational or openly defiant and sometimes physically aggressive toward adults.
Inevitably, a book of this brevity on a topic of such great controversy will provoke some disagreement.
As part of a teaching program for staff to implement these standards, it is designed to provoke discussion.
These are just preliminary thoughts rather disjointed to provoke the process of reflection.
The leaves and roots break stones, provoke urine and cure the dropsy.
The viruses colonize the gut mucosa and provoke antibody formation both in the blood stream and in the gut epithelium.
Trying to provoke a large, dangerous-looking felon from across the room is not funny.
Such a statement would provoke derisive guffaws from enthusiasts wedded to the myth of England's glorious past.
Drugs, which directly trigger happiness in users, provoke irectly trigger happiness in users, provoke ire.
The aim was to provoke true Godly jealousy - not to start a war among believers.
Don't become an abuser Do not let a junk mailer provoke you into abusing the net yourself.
I think the subject matter is going to provoke worship for eternity.
Police said that they had already arrested 13 militants they said had been preparing to provoke Mayday violence.
Unfortunately such episodes can provoke more mirth than disgust.