Crossword clues for irritate
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Irritate \Ir"ri*tate\, a. Excited; heightened. [Obs.]
Irritate \Ir"ri*tate\, v. t. [See 1 st Irritant.]
To render null and void. [R.]
--Abp. Bramhall.
Irritate \Ir"ri*tate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Irritated; p. pr. & vb. n. Irritating.] [L. irritatus, p. p. of irritare. Of doubtful origin.]
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To increase the action or violence of; to heighten excitement in; to intensify; to stimulate.
Cold maketh the spirits vigorous and irritateth them.
--Bacon. -
To excite anger or displeasure in; to provoke; to tease; to exasperate; to annoy; to vex; as, the insolence of a tyrant irritates his subjects.
Dismiss the man, nor irritate the god: Prevent the rage of him who reigns above.
--Pope. (Physiol.) To produce irritation in; to stimulate; to cause to contract. See Irritation, n., 2.
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(Med.) To make morbidly excitable, or oversensitive; to fret; as, the skin is irritated by friction; to irritate a wound by a coarse bandage.
Syn: To fret; inflame; excite; provoke; tease; vex; exasperate; anger; incense; enrage.
Usage: To Irritate, Provoke, Exasperate. These words express different stages of excited or angry feeling. Irritate denotes an excitement of quick and slightly angry feeling which is only momentary; as, irritated by a hasty remark. To provoke implies the awakening of some open expression of decided anger; as, a provoking insult. Exasperate denotes a provoking of anger at something unendurable. Whatever comes across our feelings irritates; whatever excites anger provokes; whatever raises anger to a high point exasperates. ``Susceptible and nervous people are most easily irritated; proud people are quickly provoked; hot and fiery people are soonest exasperated.''
--Crabb.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1530s, "stimulate to action, rouse, incite," from Latin irritatus, past participle of irritare "excite, provoke." An earlier verb form was irrite (mid-15c.), from Old French irriter. Meaning "annoy, make impatient" is from 1590s. Related: Irritated; irritating.\n
Wiktionary
vb. 1 (lb en transitive) To provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure. 2 (lb en transitive) To introduce irritability or irritation in. 3 (lb en intransitive) To cause or induce displeasure or irritation. 4 (lb en transitive) To induce pain in (all or part of a body or organism). 5 (lb en obsolete) To render null and void.
WordNet
v. cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations; "Mosquitoes buzzing in my ear really bothers me"; "It irritates me that she never closes the door after she leaves" [syn: annoy, rag, get to, bother, get at, rile, nark, nettle, gravel, vex, chafe, devil]
excite to an abnormal condition, of chafe or inflame; "Aspirin irritates my stomach" [ant: soothe]
excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus; "irritate the glands of a leaf"
Usage examples of "irritate".
Her absentmindedness puzzled and irritated Domaris, who had protested vigorously against allowing Deoris to work with Riveda in the first place but had only succeeded in alienating her sister more completely.
GMT Room 512, Deck 5 Bouddica Alpha The telephone rang, a jarring, explosive sound, and Adler looked up from the shaking, whimpering girl, irritated.
VICIOUS BEES TERRIFY SOUTH AFRICANS: 5 KILLED BY STINGS JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Notoriously vicious bees, apparently irritated more than usual by hot weather, have terrified South Africans with angry attacks in the last six months.
Not that she was an antismoking fanatic, but she was cranky about the way her vital signs were behaving, and looking for something to be irritated about.
Take care not to irritate me, Apollonius, or your punishment will exceed the usual imprisonment.
Spoon and Dirty Sock, she all ashiver, he irritated by a piece of wood shaving that had caught in his threads, perched on the ledge before the grate.
The lack of conversation became irritating, and Askari stood, gathered up her bow, and left the cave, wandering down the darkened tunnels, emerging at last to the rock ledge on the cliff face.
He glared across at Hwoshien, the two men regarding each other like a couple of irritated banty roosters.
Her bootheels made no sound on the restful, absorbent tile, which irritated her further.
The younger dog, however, a flashy tri-colored pointer, was still an apprentice at her trade and dodged about with exuberant energy, barking with excitement over the kill and altogether irritating her more experienced bracemate, who took its duties as seriously as any upper servant.
It may be due to colds, injuries, irritating diuretics, injections, extension of disease from the kidneys or adjacent organs, intemperance, severe horseback riding, recession of cutaneous affections, gout, rheumatism, etc.
As a result, the vast majority of Coloradans view the decidedly less-than-conservative city of Boulder either as an amusing curiosity or, less benignly, as an irritating oddity.
These interesting old characters are easily irritated, and this the little Copenhageners know full well.
As the prostate gland becomes more irritated and inflamed from the natural progress of the disease, or from the irritation caused by the passage of instruments, or the employment of strong, harsh, stimulating diuretics, the urine becomes cloudy, and still later is found to have deposited during the night in the chamber utensil a quantity of thick, tenacious, and usually offensive mucus.
In advanced cases the Larnyx is usually much congested, being constantly irritated, not only reflexly through the nervous system, but directly by the inspired air, and excoriating discharges dropping in the throat from behind the palate.