provoke

provoke (one) into (doing something)

To incite, stir, or induce one into taking some action. You shouldn't have let the boss provoke you into quitting—now you won't be entitled to any severance pay! They provoked me into retaliating, which gave them the justification they needed to arrest me.
See also: provoke

provoke (one) to

1. To incite, stir, or induce one to take some action. You shouldn't have let the boss provoke you to quit—now you won't be entitled to any severance pay! They provoked me to retaliate, which gave them the justification they needed to arrest me.
2. To incite, stir, or induce one to some hostile or incensed emotional state or response. Her words at the funeral provoked me to anger. Do not provoke the lord of the manor to wrath.
See also: provoke
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

provoke someone into something

to incite someone into doing something. The soldiers sought to provoke the demonstrators into starting a riot. They provoked us into leaving.
See also: provoke
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • provoke (one) into (doing something)
  • provoke into
  • provoking
  • provoke (one) to
  • incite
  • incite (someone) (to something)
  • cause a stir
  • cause/create a stir
  • get in(to) hot water
  • tease (one) into (doing something)
References in periodicals archive
Echoing the captionless layout of the original Provoke issues, the cacophonous installation at Le Bal favored books and films, performance scripts and documentation, and enlarged photographic reproductions arrayed like wallpaper across the interior.
Shot in the dark: Brian Wallis on "Provoke: Photography in Japan 1960-1975"
Lavrov stressed that the extremist opposition members have been provoked to adopt an extremist path that aims at toppling the regime and rejects any calls for dialogue, indicating that the extremist gunmen exploit the peaceful demonstrations to provoke the Syrian authorities.
Lavrov: Suspending Syria's Arab League Membership a Mistake and a Premeditated Act
Russia has warned the US-led plan may provoke a new arms race and upset a strategic balance in the region by threatening its nuclear deterrent capability.
Russia Condemns US Missile Defense Deal, Warns of New Era of Cold War
Like in the 1980s, they seem to be spoiling for a fight, goading the unions and trying to provoke strikes," he wrote.
Balls warns unions over Government 'trap'
"If North Korea continues on this line it can provoke hardliners in Japan to say they need a nuclear weapon," Blix told Al Jazeera on Friday.
Blix warns of nuclear race in Asia
The suspects allegedly planned to create chaos that would provoke a military coup and topple Mr Erdogan, whom they accuse of eroding Turkey's secular laws.
world news bulletin: Many charged with Turkish coup plot
Bell Laboratories introduces its newest product to help PMPs control rats, PROVOKE Professional Rat Attractant, a food-based gel which entices rats to rat traps.
Bell Laboratories introduces PROVOKE Professional Rat Attractant
Surely, even if those who proposed the author failed to think his nomination might provoke a negative reaction from the Muslim world, Her Majesty's supposedly experienced officials should have anticipated this.
Letter: Your view - Wrong gong
23) and "let us consider [katanoomen] how to provoke one another to love and good deeds" (v.
Good Friday: April 6, 2007
The catch for people living with MS is that no one knows which of the 200-odd cold viruses provoke an MS attach.
Cut your risk of colds
Superficial attempts provoke superficial responses.
Editorial
Her goal in the 1980s, as now with her carefully structured, extended analytical essay on the significance of women and the early modern household, was to "provoke reassessment" of standard interpretations of familiar narratives (5).
The Household and the Making of History: A Subversive View of the Western Past
The virulence of the isolates was evaluated through their ability to provoke bacteremia in mice after 6-week-old female BALB/c mice (Janvier, France) were injected intraperitoneally.
Rifampin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis