tease
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English tesen, from Old English tǣsan (“to tease”), from Proto-West Germanic *taisijan (“to separate, tug, shred”).
Inflected forms:
form: teases
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: teasing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: teased
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: teased
pos: verb
tags: past
form: teaze
pos: verb
tags: alternative
archaic
form: teize
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: tieze
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: teases
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: teaze
pos: noun
tags: alternative
archaic
form: teize
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: tieze
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: To separate the fibres of (a fibrous material).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To comb (originally with teasels) so that the fibres all lie in one direction.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To backcomb.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To poke fun at, either cruelly or affectionately in a playful way.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The difference between teasing and taunting is like the difference between kissing and spitting. The ingredients are the same; it is the emotion that determines whether it is pleasing or repellent.... Proper teasing says, in effect, "I know all your little oddities and faults, but as they are part of what makes you special, I find them charming." Taunting, in contrast, makes only the harsh statement, "I have noticed what is wrong with you."
The beast in the past has done horrible stuff / And his victims were left quite displeased / No one knows what he's so angry about / Maybe once in third grade he was teased
gloss: To provoke or disturb; to annoy.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Not by the force of carnal reason, / But indefatigable teasing.
I am myself, the sweetest temper'd man alive, and hate a teasing temper; and so I tell her a hundred Times a day—
He[…]suffered them to tease him into acts directly opposed to his strongest inclinations.
"My tastes," he said, still smiling, "incline me to the garishly sunlit side of this planet." And, to tease her and arouse her to combat: "I prefer a farandole to a nocturne; I'd rather have a painting than an etching; Mr. Whistler bores me with his monochromatic mud; I don't like dull colours, dull sounds, dull intellects;[…]."
gloss: To manipulate or influence the behavior of, especially by repeated acts of irritation.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: A young woman, if she fall into bad hands, may be teazed, and kept at a distance from those she wants to be with; but one cannot comprehend a young man’s being under such restraint, as not to be able to spend a week with his father, if he likes it.
gloss: To entice, tempt.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: [H]ere comes my Helpmate!—She appears in great good humour——how happy I should be if I could teaze her into loving me tho' but a little——
gloss: To deliberately arouse someone sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: My favorite fantasy is being tied down and teased and teased.
gloss: To show as forthcoming, in the manner of a teaser.
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
examples: a less interesting character here than in the previous two films, Caesar glowers through the movie, as though aware that he has been condemned to a script that is rushing to clear the stage for the straightforward Planet Of The Apes remake first teased in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.
gloss: One who teases.
pos: noun
gloss: A single act of teasing.
pos: noun
gloss: One who deliberately arouses others (usually men) sexually with no intention of satisfying that arousal.
pos: noun
Derived words: cocktease
cock tease
cockteaser
eve-tease
retease
re-tease
teasable
tease apart
teasee
teaseful
tease out
teaser
teasesome
teasy
untease
unteased
striptease
clit tease
prick tease
Translations: