provoking

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.
See also:
  • provoke
  • provoke (one) into (doing something)
  • provoke into
  • 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
The purpose of constructing hierarchy is to make a list of anxiety provoking conditions that may generate increasing level of anxiety.
To see more images for the exhibition go to gazettelive SINISTER SCENES: Bruce Burn with his work at the Python Gallery Pictures by IAN McINTYRE THOUGHT PROVOKING: Artist David Gross, right, whose sculptures include this giant hand
The appellate court began its analysis by stating that the defendant "was convicted under a statute prohibiting knowingly making 'physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with an individual.'" 720 ILCS 5/123(a)(2).
Is it the same department, who agreed to paying men to wash bollards an extravagant wage, provoking bad feeling among fellow council workers?
The potential of this controversial award causing fury, inciting protests and provoking terrorism should have been obvious.
All of the strategies reduced Ara h1 levels in all patients, but each patient still had a detectable level that would be capable of provoking an allergic reaction, Dr.
All of the strategies reduced Ara hl levels in all patients, but each patient still had a detectable level that would be capable of provoking an allergic reaction, Dr.
dropping a lot more bombs in the hope of provoking a reaction that would give the allies an excuse to carry out a full-scale bombing campaign, an air war, the first stage of the conflict," he continued.
Aby hurled a bottle of water on the floor after he called her Amy, provoking Novelli into a row.
Inherently thought provoking reading, Reich Of The Black Sun draws upon a wealth of documentation and an "alternative history" discourse that is as thoughtful as it is thought provoking.
Despite the universality of crisis provoking events, culture plays a strong role in how crisis is interpreted, both for the crisis intervener and the crisis victim (Pederson, 1987).
IF THE BLUE STATES GET THEIR REVENGE AT THE OSCAR Bill Condon's Kinsey should beat out Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, provoking a host of red state sermons about the godless Sodom known as Hollywood If Gibson's film brings home more gold, blue state pundits will rail about a Heartland that celebrates violence but faints at the first mention of sex.
Its success put mortal strain on European monarchies, provoking state crises and revolutions from the eighteenth century onward.
The opening question, how do we know we are aging, and how old one is, is interesting and thought provoking. On one hand we can age according to "societal" arrangements--retirement, senior citizens discounts, increasing health/medical problems, and other benchmarks, or we can "age" in comparison to others and how others see us.
sentiment Bush is currently provoking throughout the Middle East will resonate for decades, Hartung and other critics charge.