tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath.
children teased the dog
Example Sentences
Noun The country was hit by a plague of natural disasters that year. There has been a plague of bank robberies in the area. a plague that swept through the tribe in the 1600s Verb Computer viruses plague Internet users. Crime plagues the inner city. Drought and wildfires continue to plague the area. See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
And more of the insects would be unwelcome news for farmers who consider grasshoppers to be a plague and fight them with insecticides.Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022 The 1918 flu pandemic was the worst plague since the Black Death, which occured in the mid-14th century. Steven Salzberg, Forbes, 15 Aug. 2022 This is not a plague of locusts with their pharaoh pharaoh call. Erika Meitner, The New Republic, 17 Mar. 2022 Misinformation is a plague on the internet, but in some cases social media can be the quickest way to disseminate stories from the ground. Angela Watercutter, Wired, 25 Feb. 2022 The story that might have fully broken my brain for good is the recent plague of conservatives poisoning themselves with veterinary deworming paste. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 27 Aug. 2021 Rape has been a plague in Baltimore for what can feel like forever. Isabel Seliger, ProPublica, 24 May 2021 This is not a Republican-versus-Democrat kind of thing; practical atheism is a plague. Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 10 May 2021 Emotional support animals are ‘a plague’ on rental property owners and managers, landlord attorney says.The Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Mar. 2021
Verb
Mass shootings have continued to plague the country. Lawrence Andrea, Journal Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2022 With the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases still hovering around 150,000 per day, even the most libertarian among us, while bristling about the overreach of the mandate, feel frustrated that the virus continues to plague the country. Kevin A. Hassett, National Review, 14 Sep. 2021 In the decades since, kudzu has become a generative symbol to writers and artists for the inequalities that still plague the country at large.New York Times, 3 May 2021 The massive security presence tells of the ongoing flashes of violence and political instability that still plague Iraq almost two decades after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2021 Yet social media giants are pushing forward with a familiar playbook to police misinformation this electoral cycle, even as false claims that the last presidential election was fraudulent continue to plague their platforms. Naomi Nix, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2022 Armie Hammer’s recent headline-grabbing controversy is not the only one to plague the notable family. Ellise Shafer, Variety, 10 Aug. 2022 Yet, pervasive stereotypes still seem to plague the group. Jasmine Browley, Essence, 4 Aug. 2022 Levin also predicted that the use of dark money, or money given to groups that are not required to disclose their donors, would plague the Democratic party moving forward. Alexandra Marquez, NBC News, 3 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English plage, from Late Latin plaga, from Latin, blow; akin to Latin plangere to strike — more at plaint