tease
pronunciation
How to pronounce tease in British English:
UK [tiːz]
How to pronounce tease in American English:
US [tiːz]
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- Noun:
- someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
- a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men
- the act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances
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- Verb:
- annoy persistently
- harass with persistent criticism or carping
- to arouse hope, desire, or curiosity without satisfying them
- tear into pieces
- raise the nap of (fabrics)
- disentangle and raise the fibers of
- separate the fibers of
- mock or make fun of playfully
- ruffle (one's hair) by combing towards the ends towards the scalp, for a full effect
Word Origin
- tease
- tease: [OE] Tease originally meant ‘separate the fibres of wool’ (a sense still perceptible in the metaphorical tease out ‘disentangle something complicated’). It came from a prehistoric West Germanic *taisjan, whose base was also the source of English teasel [OE], a plant whose prickly flower heads were used for carding wool. The notion of ‘irritating someone with prickles’ led in the 17th century to tease being used for ‘pester’, which gradually weakened into ‘make fun of’.
- tease (v.)
- formerly also teaze, Old English tæsan "pluck, pull, tear; pull apart, comb" (fibers of wool, flax, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *taisijan (cognates: Danish tæse, Middle Dutch tesen, Dutch tezen "to draw, pull, scratch," Old High German zeisan "to tease, pick wool"). The original sense is of running thorns through wool or flax to separate, shred, or card the fibers. The figurative sense of "vex, worry, annoy" (sometimes done in good humor) emerged 1610s. For similar sense development, compare heckle. Hairdressing sense is recorded from 1957. Related: Teased; teasing; teasingly.
- tease (n.)
- 1690s, "act of teasing," from tease (v.). Meaning "one who teases" is from 1852. Specifically as short for cock-teaser, it was in use by 1976.
Example
- 1. Researchers are just beginning to tease apart this complex traitand its relation to health .
- 2. The silliness of the tease exercise made them self-conscious .
- 3. They tease each other and light cigarettes as they boil macaroni and brew tea .
- 4. This creates anticipation for better sex -- the tease .
- 5. But remember , this is a tease not an insult .