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Definition of "tease" []

  • To annoy or pester; vex. (verb-transitive)
  • To make fun of; mock playfully. (verb-transitive)
  • To arouse hope, desire, or curiosity in without affording satisfaction. (verb-transitive)
  • To urge persistently; coax: teasing their mother for more candy. (verb-transitive)
  • To gain by persistent coaxing: "the New York editor who could tease great books from the unpromising woolly jumble of an author's first draft” ( Ian Jack). (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.

Use "tease" in a sentence
  • "So, next hour, give us what we call a tease in this business."
  • "M. O'BRIEN: Hence you have what we call a tease in television."
  • "Now, with an economic crisis upon us coupled with a public that is gun shy about gas prices (you just know those $1.75 prices are only a short-term tease), they now come running, hat-in-hand, begging for bridge loans, as if this economic downturn was the only obstacle in front of them before reinventing themselves into profitable companies that build great products."