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Adjective: provoking  pru'vow-king
  1. Causing or tending to cause anger or resentment
    "a provoking delay at the airport";
    - agitative, agitating
Verb: provoke  pru'vowk
  1. Call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
    "provoke pity";
    - arouse, elicit, enkindle [literary], kindle, evoke, fire, raise
     
  2. Make appear or occur
    "Her behaviour provoked a quarrel between the couple";
    - evoke, call forth, kick up [informal]
     
  3. Provide the needed stimulus for
    - stimulate
     
  4. Annoy or hinder continually or in many ways
    "This man provokes his female co-workers";
    - harass, hassle [informal], harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy [non-standard], beset, plague, molest

See also: provocative

Type of: annoy, bother, cause, chafe, challenge, create, devil, do, engender, get at [informal], get to, gravel [US], irritate, make, nark [Brit, slang], nettle, rag, rile, roil [N. Amer], tick off [informal], vex

Encyclopedia: Provoking

Provoke