Definition of "provoke" []

• To incite to anger or resentment. (verb-transitive)
• To stir to action or feeling. (verb-transitive)
• To give rise to; evoke: provoke laughter. (verb-transitive)
• To bring about deliberately; induce: provoke a fight. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Let them, as far as I am concerned, but it may short term provoke more counterreaction."
• "Today, another American legend, Mark Twain, celebrated for the power of his language and his ability to delight and provoke, is also under attack."
• "A very large part of our knowledge about immunity against bacteria and the diseases they provoke is therefore due to the action of haemolytic sera on red corpuscles, and it was only later that attempts were made to find out if, and in what measure, the detected properties apply equally to bacteria and the bacteriolytic sera."