| 释义 |
▪ I. provoke, v.|prəʊˈvəʊk|
[a. OF. provoke-r (14th c. in Godef. Compl.), mod.F. provoquer (learned word taking the place of the earlier purvuchier), ad. L. prōvocāre to call forth, challenge, appeal, excite, f. prō, pro-1 +vocāre to call.]
I.
†1. trans. To call forth, call upon, call for, invoke; to summon, invite. Also absol. Obs.
c1477Caxton Jason 29 The peple..knelid down tofore him and prouoked the goddes vnto his ayde and helpe. 1483Caxton's Chron. Eng. iii. (1520) 25 b, Hircanum her sone she prouoked to the bysshopryche. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. viii. (Arb.) 33 Horace..was..prouoked to be Secretarie of estate to Augustus th' Emperour. 1667Waterhouse Fire Lond. 123, I humbly provoke the Nation to humiliation before God. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 771 The Herdsmen..provoke his Health in Goblets crown'd. 1708Pope Ode St. Cecilia 36 But when our Country's cause provokes to Arms, How martial music ev'ry bosom warms!
†2. intr. To call to a judge or court to take up one's cause; to appeal (from a lower to a higher ecclesiastical tribunal). Obs.
1533Cranmer Let. to Boner in Burnet Hist. Ref. (1715) III. App. 46, I have provoked from his Holyness to the General Counsell. 1666J. Sergeant Let. of Thanks 113 Tertullian is the unlikeliest man in the world to provoke to the Scriptures. 1682Dryden Relig. Laici 346 Even Arius and Pelagius durst provoke To what the centuries preceding spoke.
†b. trans. To bring or carry (an appeal). rare.
1532–3Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 12 §3 Where..any of the Kinges Subjectes..haue vsed to pursue provoke or procure any appele to the See of Rome.
†3. trans. To call out or summon to a fight; to challenge, to defy. Obs.
1484[see provocation 2]. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 258 Them wold he haue prouoked to exarmouche. a1578Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 347 Thair was ane combatt of singular battell betuix the laird of Drumlanrick and the laird of Hempsfeild quho provockit wther in barras to fight to deid. 1657–83Evelyn Hist. Relig. (1850) I. 383 Tertullian..provokes all the world to contradict it, if they could. 1697Dryden æneid vi. 252 Swoln with applause, and aiming still at more, He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore.
II.
4. To incite or urge (a person or animal) to some act or to do something; to stimulate to action; to excite, rouse, stir up, spur on. Also with simple obj. or absol. Now arch. except as involving mixture of 5.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 45 Bothe Numetor and the ij. breþer were provokede in to the dethe off Amulius. c1440Promp. Parv. 415/2 Provokyn, or steryn to good, or badde. 1462Litt. Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 128 Diuers..Weuers..for ther singuler profit, provokyn and stere diuers marchauntz and othour to bryng in..people..not born vndir the Kynges obeisaunce. 1526Tindale Heb. x. 24 Let vs consyder one another to provoke vnto love, and to good workes. 1535Coverdale 1 Kings xviii. 28 They cried loude, and prouoked themselues with knyues & botkens. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 112 Beautie prouoketh theeues sooner then gold. c1600― Sonn. l, The bloody spurre cannot prouoke him on. 1671R. MacWard True Nonconf. 10 To alleage, that the Prophets did not provock to such courses. 1743J. Morris Serm. ii. 46 He..provokes them who are rich to liberality. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Org. 1 In the hope that these pages may provoke others to come forward.
b. trans. To stir up, agitate.
1675Hobbes Odyssey xii. 167 And with our Oars in hand provok'd the Deep.
5. To incite to anger (a person or animal); to enrage, vex, irritate, exasperate. Also absol.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 51 Anthiocus Magnus, provokede thro that, had occupiede alle Egipte [Trevisa, Antiochus was wrooþ]. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxxvii[i]. 17 For all this they synned agaynst him, and prouoked the most hyest in the wildernesse. Ibid. xciv. [xcv.] 8 Harden not youre hertes, as when ye prouoked in tyme of temptacion in the wildernes. 1678R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor. (1776) 231 A shadow provokes the asp. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iv. (1841) I. 74 You had better let her alone, you will but provoke her. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 90 Mrs. Mourtray, quite out of patience,..exclaimed, ‘you are really enough to provoke a saint’. 1880Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 47 ‘Don't provoke me,’ exclaims Netta.
6. To excite, stir up, arouse (feeling, action, etc.); to give rise to, call forth.
1533Gau Richt Vay 16 Thay that prouokis ony ewil desir..in thair selff or in oders with sangis or wordis. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 140 My Tale prouokes that question. 1653Wilkins Gift Prayer vi. 51 The meditation of his bounty and goodness will provoke Love and Gratitude. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 301 Their natures are too opposite ever to provoke mutual desire. 1804Med. Jrnl. XII. 263 The discussions it has provoked, and the train of experiments it has induced. 1881Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. ii. v. 233 The Oxford revivalists had provoked the storm, but had no spell which would allay it.
b. transf. To excite, give rise to, induce, bring about (a physical action, condition, etc.).
1551Turner Herbal i. M iv, Saffron..hath the propertye..to prouoke vryne. 1563T. Gale Antidot. ii. 15 It prouoketh slepe, the temples beynge annoynted with it. 1642Rogers Naaman 207 Lukewarm water will not sooner provoke vomiting, then thou dost the Lord to vomit thee out of his mouth. 1732Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. 262 All things which provoke great Secretions, especially Sweat. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) II. xii. 262 Does the yeast-plant stand alone in its power of provoking alcoholic fermentation?
Hence provoked |prəʊˈvəʊkt|, ppl. a., having received provocation; irritated, angry, annoyed.
1552Huloet, Prouoked, concitatus, impulsus. 1698Vanbrugh (title) The Provok'd Wife: a Comedy. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 151 There may be a time when provoked mercy will no longer strive.
▪ II. proˈvoke, n. rare.
[f. prec.]
1. An act of provoking; a provocation; a challenge; a cause of offence.
1773J. Ross Fratricide ii. 589 (MS.) By just provoke made ireful. 1824Scott Let. to Ld. Montagu 14 Apr., Were you to consider this letter as a provoke requiring an answer.
2. An invitation.
1842Blackw. Mag. LI. 375 He regretted to hear that Sunday was our only open day, but finally, summing up courage, he hazarded a provoke for Sunday. |