teased
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tease
(tēz)v. teased, teas·ing, teas·es
v.tr.
1.
a. To make fun of (someone) playfully or taunt annoyingly: was teased by my classmates for being skinny; teased him about driving such a fast car.
b. To say in a playful or mocking way: "But you're too young to get married," he teased.
c. To provoke or irritate, as with physical movements: teased the cat by dangling a string in its face.
d. To arouse sexual desire in (someone) deliberately with no intention of having sex.
e. To urge persistently; coax: teased their mother to let them stay up late.
2.
a. To disentangle and dress the fibers of (wool, for example).
b. To ruffle (the hair) by combing from the ends toward the scalp for an airy, full effect.
c. To raise the nap of (cloth) by dressing, as with a fuller's teasel.
d. To cut (tissue, for example) into pieces for examination.
e. To extract, identify, or cause to come about. Used with out: The director teased a good performance out of the actors. The researcher teased out the factors involved in the disease.
v.intr.
To annoy or make fun of someone persistently: I was just teasing.
n.
1. An act of teasing, especially a playfully mocking remark: his tease of his friend's little sister.
2. One that teases, as:
a. A person who makes fun of or annoys others, as with playful or taunting remarks.
b. A flirtatious person.
[Middle English tesen, to comb apart, from Old English tǣsan.]
teas′ing·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Adj. | 1. | teased - feeling mild pleasurable excitement excited - in an aroused state |
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