tease

tease Definition

tease (tēz)

transitive verb teased, teas′·ing

1. to separate the fibers of; card or comb (flax, wool, etc.)
2. to fluff (the hair) by brushing or combing in strokes from the hair ends toward the scalp
3. to gently shred or pull apart (tissues, etc.) for microscopic examination, cellular research, etc.
4. ☆ to reveal, extract, obtain, etc. by painstaking effort: often with out it took hours to tease out the meaning of the story
to raise a nap on (cloth) by brushing with teasels; teasel
to annoy or harass by persistent mocking or poking fun, playful fooling, etc.
to urge persistently; importune
1. to tantalize
2. to excite sexually without intending to satisfy the desire aroused

Etymology: ME tesen < OE tæsan, to pull about, pluck, tease, akin to Du teezen < IE *di-s < base *dā(i)-, to cut apart, divide > tide

intransitive verb

to indulge in teasing

noun

tease Related Forms

teas′·ingly adverb

tease Synonyms

tease Usage Examples

Object

cross: Striker Rich Payne reversed roles with winger Jonny Hughes to deliver a teasing cross that the irrepressible Hughes headed wide.
crowd: One of the songs they played isn't on the album and the band teased the crowd with a guess the tune competition.
reader: Yet at the same time Nabokov teases the reader with ambiguous clues related to what will happen.
audience: Eric was entertaining, I liked how he teased the audience for an encore.
hair: The breeze played with the hairs on his neck, seeming to tease each individual hair.
puzzle: I have the sneaking suspicion that most Sudoku addicts have wondered what it takes to actually create one of these teasing puzzles.

Preposition: at

Modifying Another Word

mercilessly: Alan is the only man and wonders if he will be teased mercilessly or spend years reading chic literature.
gently: Hugh: I was gently teasing, from the position of a colonized nation.
apart: Its structures can be teased apart to exclude the presence of an indirect sac.
constantly: Helen, who was in the bed next to his, constantly teased him.
carefully: By carefully teasing the material, the arrow could be extracted.
sometimes: Always there is this teasing Sometimes I lose all hope Where is my strength to hold on?

Followed by an intransitive particle

Followed by a transitive particle

apart: Prepare planting holes well, adding plenty of organic matter, and tease apart tangled roots.

Particle object:

implication: Working within a ' classical ' Marxist framework, I have sought to tease out the ecological implications of the capitalist economic system.
meaning: One task facing future scholars will be to tease out these alternative meanings of manhood for those who embraced them.
root: Empty out of pot and tease out the base roots to encourage them to spread.
difference: I would like to start the conversation by asking the Archbishop, how we might tease out the differences.
issue: The aim is to tease out issues that are impacting on the child's ability to learn.

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