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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
provocation
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
deliberate
▪ It is an act of explicit challenge to Rome, an act of deliberate, militant provocation.
▪ We are virtually certain that this incident was a deliberate provocation.
▪ The company's been accused of deliberate provocation.
▪ He knew that Sharpe's insults were more than mere anger, but a deliberate provocation to a duel.
slight
▪ He's not saying we should explode on the slightest provocation.
■ NOUN
test
▪ There was also no relation between the results of the provocation test and the number and nature of symptoms.
▪ Demonstrate provocation test where clients deliberately over-breath - discuss catastrophic misinterpretation of symptoms - breathing exercises.
▪ A positive provocation test was documented if upper abdominal pain was present with or without nausea after introduction of duodenal contents.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Carter claims that she attacked him without provocation.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Although there was no question of rising to it, the means of provocation were ingenious.
▪ But Didion is interested in root causes, not in immediate provocations.
▪ But much of it was due to provocation from the students whose ranks had been infiltrated by revolutionaries seeking a violent reaction.
▪ Horbury denies murder on grounds of provocation.
▪ I shall recommend ways of keeping cool in the face of severe provocation.
▪ Keyes refused to speculate on either the provocations or the order of the deaths.
▪ Thus, if the mandatory penalty were abolished, it would be sufficient to take account of provocation when sentencing for murder.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Provocation

Provocation \Prov`o*ca"tion\, n. [F. provocation, L. provocatio. See Provoke.]

  1. The act of provoking, or causing vexation or, anger.
    --Fabyan.

  2. That which provokes, or excites anger; the cause of resentment; as, to give provocation.
    --Paley.

  3. Incitement; stimulus; as, provocation to mirth.

  4. (Law) Such prior insult or injury as may be supposed, under the circumstances, to create hot blood, and to excuse an assault made in retort or redress.

  5. An appeal to a court.

    Note: [A Latinism] [Obs.]
    --Ayliffe.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
provocation

c.1400, from Old French provocacion (12c.) and directly from Latin provocationem (nominative provocatio) "a calling forth, a summoning, a challenge," noun of action from past participle stem of provocare "to call out" (see provoke).

Wiktionary
provocation

n. 1 The act of provoke, inciting or annoying someone into doing something 2 Something that provoke; a provocative act 3 (context emergency medicine English) The second step in OPQRST regarding the investigation of what makes the symptoms MOI or NOI improve or deteriorate.

WordNet
provocation
  1. n. unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment [syn: aggravation, irritation]

  2. something that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action [syn: incitement, incitation]

  3. needed encouragement; "the result was a provocation of vigorous investigation" [syn: incitement]

Wikipedia
Provocation (legal)

In criminal law, provocation may be either or both a statutory or common law possible defense or an offense. Provocation may be a defense by excuse or exculpation alleging a sudden or temporary loss of control (a permanent loss of control is in the realm of insanity) as a response to another's provocative conduct sufficient to justify an acquittal, a mitigated sentence or a conviction for a lesser charge. Provocation can be a relevant factor in a court's assessment of a defendant's mens rea, intention, or state of mind, at the time of an act of which the defendant is accused.

In some common law jurisdictions such as the UK, Canada, and several Australian states, the defense of provocation is only available against a charge of murder and only acts to reduce the conviction to manslaughter. This is known as "voluntary manslaughter", which is considered more serious than "involuntary manslaughter", and comprises both manslaughter by "unlawful act" and manslaughter by criminal negligence. In the United States, the Model Penal Code substitutes the broader standard of extreme emotional or mental distress for the comparatively narrower standard of provocation. Criminal law in the United States, however, falls mostly within the jurisdiction of the individual states, and not all states have adopted the Model Penal Code. Under the United States Sentencing Guidelines for federal courts, "If the victim's wrongful conduct contributed significantly to provoking the offense behavior, the court may reduce the sentence below the guideline range to reflect the nature and circumstances of the offense."

Provocation

Provocation and provoke may refer to:

  • Provocation (legal), a type of legal defense in court which claims the "victim" provoked the accused's actions
  • Agent provocateur, a (generally political) group that tries to goad a desired response from the group or otherwise disrupt its activity
  • Provocation test, a way of medical testing for conditions such as an allergy by provoking the immune system's response
  • Provoke (album), a 1998 album by Altar and their final release on Displeased Records
  • Provoke (magazine), a Japanese photography and arts magazine, 1967–1968
  • Provoked (film), a 2007 British film starring Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews
  • Provoked (album), a 2008 album by Henry Rollins
  • Provoked (Sunny Sweeney album), a 2014 album by Sunny Sweeney
  • Provoke (horse), a racehorse

Usage examples of "provocation".

Selucia made a low sound very like a growl, but Tuon ignored the provocation and gestured Mistress Anan to bring her stool over beside her.

She had loosened the string of her apron, and now carried the minuscular garment in her hand, swinging it with artful provocation.

The Shardies had hit hard when we first made contact with their kind, which could hardly be called contact at all since they attacked first and without provocation.

If, on the other hand, we recollect the universal toleration of Polytheism, as it was invariably maintained by the faith of the people, the incredulity of philosophers, and the policy of the Roman senate and emperors, we are at a loss to discover what new offence the Christians had committed, what new provocation could exasperate the mild indifference of antiquity, and what new motives could urge the Roman princes, who beheld without concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway, to inflict a severe punishment on any part of their subjects, who had chosen for themselves a singular but an inoffensive mode of faith and worship.

He had swept it out of existence, as it seemed, without any provocation, as a boy might crush an ant hill, in the mere wantonness of power.

After that, I could say nothing more before the stranger: and when he was gone, and she came back triumphing, and laughing, and singing about the room, more like a mad play-actress than a decent young woman, I kept quiet and bore with her provocation.

Despite all the malicious provocations, supported or at least connived at by Varn and the rest of the Dekkan Planetary Council, despite the brutal stupidity of the PDI, even despite being perforated by a chunk of metal that had made a jigsaw puzzle of his elbow joint, Johnson was holding a full two steps down from the intensity of response that the rules of engagement now permitted.

They jabbed us with their spears and struck at us with the hatchets at the least provocation, and at no provocation at all.

If, on the other hand, we recollect the universal toleration of Polytheism, as it was invariably maintained by the faith of the people, the incredulity of philosophers, and the policy of the Roman senate and emperors, we are at a loss to discover what new offence the Christians had committed, what new provocation could exasperate the mild indifference of antiquity, and what new motives could urge the Roman princes, who beheld without concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway, to inflict a severe punishment on any part of their subjects, who had chosen for themselves a singular but an inoffensive mode of faith and worship.

The idea was to remove any provocation that would give Russia an excuse to invade the khanate, since Britain prefers Bokhara to remain independent.

Too raw not to rise to provocation, Diegan felt his horse startle and jig.

What with the heavy beatings at any provocation or none, and the physical drills that go on till the weakest drop, and the starvation, and the long roll calls of nearly naked men, in subzero frost, and the hard work-digging drainage ditches, hauling lumber, dragging rocks, demolishing peasant houses in the evacuated villages, and carrying the materials, sometimes several kilometers, to the new blockhouse sites-and what with the guards shooting on the spot men who falter or fall, or finishing them off with the butt-ends of their rifles, the roster of Russians in the quarantine camp at Oswiecim is rapidly shrinking.

Baltimore belle had long since submerged in the stern battle for existence, an estheticism which formerly revolted at much slighter provocation.

Francis, having first eulogised Tippoo Sultaun, and contended that it was both impolitic and unjust to think of extending our territories in Hindustan, moved thirteen resolutions for the purpose of censuring the origin and preventing the continuance of the war, which he represented as having been begun without provocation, as being ruinously expensive, and as not likely to be productive of any great advantage.

He was tough and aggressive with the niggers, and demanded hard work from them, but although he used the whip occasionally, he controlled his urge to flog them on any provocation, and things at The Forks were running smoothly, if not as moderately as once they had.