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/prˌɑvəkˈeɪʃən/ Listen

noun

Provocation n.

The act of provoking, or causing vexation or, anger.

That which provokes, or excites anger; the cause of resentment; as, to give provocation.

Incitement; stimulus; as, provocation to mirth.

(Law) Such prior insult or injury as may be supposed, under the circumstances, to create hot blood, and to excuse an assault made in retort or redress.

An appeal to a court. Note: (A Latinism) (Obs.)

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Etymology of 'Provocation'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Provocation" Quotes from Famous Books

... thus roughly commenced is not very smooth in its continuance; and the most cruel punishments—violent beating, throwing spears or burning brands, &c.—are frequently inflicted upon the weaker party, without any sufficient provocation having been given. It is evident, that treatment of this kind, together with the immensely long journeys which they are compelled to take, always accompanying their husbands on every excursion, must be very injurious to the constitution and ...

— Australia, its history and present condition • William Pridden

... we have exhausted this subject," answered the Millionaire with the bruskness of a man whose nerves have worn thin; with the menace, too, of one who, having divorced his first wife, would divorce the second on small provocation. ...

— Defenders of Democracy • Militia of Mercy

... bad enough to feel inimical toward others when under severe provocation or in a hot temper, but you certainly can not afford deliberately to continue this state of mind after the provocation has ceased. The wear and tear upon your nervous system and your health takes too ...

— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden

... has is rather historical than actual; and neither in the nursery nor in the schoolroom is he likely to create any excitement or be received with any enthusiasm. To the world he can only recommend himself as one anxious to make it known on the smallest provocation and on any occasion or none that Queen Anne is dead. Open him where you will, and you find him full of this important news and determined on imparting it. Thus, in The ...

— Views and Reviews - Essays in appreciation • William Ernest Henley

... of the case; to imagine (this will be good use to make of your vivid imagination) what painful chord you may have unconsciously struck, what circumstances may possibly have led the person who annoys you to suppose that the provocation originated with yourself instead of with her. It may be possible that some innocent words of yours may have appeared to her as cutting insinuations or taunts, referring to some former painful circumstance, forgotten or unknown by you, but sorrowfully remembered by her, or a wilful contradiction ...

— The Young Lady's Mentor - A Guide to the Formation of Character. In a Series of Letters to Her Unknown Friends • A Lady

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