tease

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make fun of someone in a playful way.

   Her friends teased her about her new haircut.

2. 2
   verb

   To annoy someone again and again on purpose.

   The children teased the new boy until he started to cry.

3. 3
   verb

   To make someone want something by hinting at it without giving it.

   The advert is designed to tease customers with a glimpse of the new phone.

4. 4
   noun

   The act of playfully making fun of someone.

   He didn't mean to hurt you; it was just a bit of a tease.

Simplified etymology

Tease is an Old English word that originally meant “comb wool in preparation for spinning.” The physical idea survives in teasing tangles out of hair and later developed into the sense of irritating or provoking someone. Teasel, the prickly plant head once used in processing wool, derives its name from the same word.

From Middle English tesen, from Old English tǣsan (“to tease”), from Proto-West Germanic *taisijan (“to separate, tug, shred”).

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External links

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