Definition of "rankle" [ran•kle]

• To cause persistent irritation or resentment. (verb-intransitive)
• To become sore or inflamed; fester. (verb-intransitive)
• To embitter; irritate. (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.

• "It was some days since I had seen Philip; but, weakly enough, I let the memory of that word rankle still."
• "Lest that designation rankle supporters of 21-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, whose statistical output at the top of the NHL scoring table is one point better than Ovechkin's (both trail the Penguins 'Evgeni Malkin, another 22-year-old prodigy), the point still holds: In a rink where the wall in the home dressing room reads "from failing hands we throw the torch," the league's standard has been handed to a new generation."
• "Spain are in no need of compliments but it was still a tribute to them that England's prolonged defending did not rankle with the fans."