| challenge | | |
| n. (state) | 1. challenge | a demanding or stimulating situation.; "they reacted irrationally to the challenge of Russian power" |
| ~ situation, state of affairs | the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time.; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation" |
| n. (communication) | 2. challenge | a call to engage in a contest or fight. |
| ~ speech act | the use of language to perform some act. |
| ~ dare, daring | a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy.; "he could never refuse a dare" |
| ~ confrontation | a bold challenge. |
| ~ call-out | a challenge to a fight or duel. |
| ~ defiance | a hostile challenge. |
| ~ calling into question, demand for explanation | a challenge to defend what someone has said. |
| ~ demand for identification | as by a sentry. |
| ~ gantlet, gauntlet | to offer or accept a challenge.; "threw down the gauntlet"; "took up the gauntlet" |
| n. (communication) | 3. challenge | questioning a statement and demanding an explanation.; "his challenge of the assumption that Japan is still our enemy" |
| ~ inquiring, questioning | a request for information. |
| n. (communication) | 4. challenge | a formal objection to the selection of a particular person as a juror. |
| ~ objection | the speech act of objecting. |
| n. (communication) | 5. challenge | a demand by a sentry for a password or identification. |
| ~ demand | an urgent or peremptory request.; "his demands for attention were unceasing" |
| v. (communication) | 6. challenge, dispute, gainsay | take exception to.; "She challenged his claims" |
| ~ call | challenge the sincerity or truthfulness of.; "call the speaker on a question of fact" |
| ~ call into question, oppugn, question | challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of.; "We must question your judgment in this matter" |
| ~ call | challenge (somebody) to make good on a statement; charge with or censure for an offense.; "He deserves to be called on that" |
| ~ contest, repugn, contend | to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation.; "They contested the outcome of the race" |
| v. (communication) | 7. challenge | issue a challenge to.; "Fischer challenged Spassky to a match" |
| ~ invite, bid | ask someone in a friendly way to do something. |
| ~ provoke, stimulate | provide the needed stimulus for. |
| ~ counterchallenge | challenge in turn.; "The authentication was counterchallenged" |
| ~ call into question, oppugn, question | challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of.; "We must question your judgment in this matter" |
| ~ impeach | challenge the honesty or veracity of.; "the lawyers tried to impeach the credibility of the witnesses" |
| ~ impugn | attack as false or wrong. |
| ~ dare, defy | challenge.; "I dare you!" |
| ~ call one's bluff | ask to prove what someone is claiming.; "John called Mary's bluff when she claimed she could prove the theorem in under an hour" |
| ~ call out | challenge to a duel.; "Aaron Burr called out Alexander Hamilton" |
| ~ remand, send back, remit | refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision. |
| ~ appeal | take a court case to a higher court for review.; "He was found guilty but appealed immediately" |
| ~ action, sue, litigate, process | institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against.; "He was warned that the district attorney would process him"; "She actioned the company for discrimination" |
| ~ litigate | engage in legal proceedings. |
| v. (communication) | 8. challenge | ask for identification.; "The illegal immigrant was challenged by the border guard" |
| ~ call for, request, bespeak, quest | express the need or desire for; ask for.; "She requested an extra bed in her room"; "She called for room service" |
| ~ stop, halt | come to a halt, stop moving.; "the car stopped"; "She stopped in front of a store window" |
| v. (communication) | 9. challenge, take exception | raise a formal objection in a court of law. |
| ~ law, jurisprudence | the collection of rules imposed by authority.; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" |
| ~ object | express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent.; "She never objected to the amount of work her boss charged her with"; "When asked to drive the truck, she objected that she did not have a driver's license" |
| ~ appeal | challenge (a decision).; "She appealed the verdict" |
| provoked | | |
| adj. | 1. aggravated, provoked | incited, especially deliberately, to anger.; "aggravated by passive resistance"; "the provoked animal attacked the child" |
| ~ angry | feeling or showing anger.; "angry at the weather"; "angry customers"; "an angry silence"; "sending angry letters to the papers" |
| dare | | |
| n. (communication) | 1. dare, daring | a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy.; "he could never refuse a dare" |
| ~ challenge | a call to engage in a contest or fight. |
| v. (social) | 2. dare, make bold, presume | take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission.; "How dare you call my lawyer?" |
| ~ act, move | perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).; "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" |
| v. (social) | 3. dare | to be courageous enough to try or do something.; "I don't dare call him"; "she dares to dress differently from the others" |
| ~ act, move | perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).; "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" |
| v. (communication) | 4. dare, defy | challenge.; "I dare you!" |
| ~ brazen | face with defiance or impudence.; "brazen it out" |
| ~ challenge | issue a challenge to.; "Fischer challenged Spassky to a match" |
| defy | | |
| v. (stative) | 1. defy, hold, hold up, withstand | resist or confront with resistance.; "The politician defied public opinion"; "The new material withstands even the greatest wear and tear"; "The bridge held" |
| ~ stand firm, hold out, resist, withstand | stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something. |
| ~ brave, brave out, weather, endure | face and withstand with courage.; "She braved the elements" |
| v. (stative) | 2. defy, refuse, resist | elude, especially in a baffling way.; "This behavior defies explanation" |
| ~ beggar | be beyond the resources of.; "This beggars description!" |
| ~ elude, escape | be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by.; "What you are seeing in him eludes me" |
| heckle | | |
| n. (artifact) | 1. hatchel, heckle | a comb for separating flax fibers. |
| ~ comb | any of several tools for straightening fibers. |
| v. (contact) | 2. hackle, hatchel, heckle | comb with a heckle.; "heckle hemp or flax" |
| ~ comb | straighten with a comb.; "comb your hair" |
| v. (communication) | 3. heckle | challenge aggressively. |
| ~ cut off, disrupt, interrupt, break up | make a break in.; "We interrupt the program for the following messages" |
| provoke | | |
| v. (emotion) | 1. arouse, elicit, enkindle, evoke, fire, kindle, provoke, raise | call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses).; "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" |
| ~ create, make | make or cause to be or to become.; "make a mess in one's office"; "create a furor" |
| ~ touch a chord, strike a chord | evoke a reaction, response, or emotion.; "this writer strikes a chord with young women"; "The storyteller touched a chord" |
| ~ ask for, invite | increase the likelihood of.; "ask for trouble"; "invite criticism" |
| ~ draw | elicit responses, such as objections, criticism, applause, etc..; "The President's comments drew sharp criticism from the Republicans"; "The comedian drew a lot of laughter" |
| ~ rekindle | arouse again.; "rekindle hopes"; "rekindle her love" |
| ~ infatuate | arouse unreasoning love or passion in and cause to behave in an irrational way.; "His new car has infatuated him"; "love has infatuated her" |
| ~ prick | to cause a sharp emotional pain.; "The thought of her unhappiness pricked his conscience" |
| ~ fire up, stir up, heat, ignite, wake, inflame | arouse or excite feelings and passions.; "The ostentatious way of living of the rich ignites the hatred of the poor"; "The refugees' fate stirred up compassion around the world"; "Wake old feelings of hatred" |
| ~ stimulate, shake up, stir, excite, shake | stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of.; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country" |
| ~ excite | arouse or elicit a feeling. |
| ~ anger | make angry.; "The news angered him" |
| ~ discomfit, discompose, untune, disconcert, upset | cause to lose one's composure. |
| ~ shame | cause to be ashamed. |
| ~ spite, bruise, injure, wound, offend, hurt | hurt the feelings of.; "She hurt me when she did not include me among her guests"; "This remark really bruised my ego" |
| ~ overwhelm, sweep over, whelm, overpower, overcome, overtake | overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli. |
| ~ interest | excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of. |
| v. (creation) | 2. call forth, evoke, kick up, provoke | evoke or provoke to appear or occur.; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple" |
| ~ bring up, call down, conjure, conjure up, invoke, call forth, arouse, put forward, evoke, stir, raise | summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic.; "raise the specter of unemployment"; "he conjured wild birds in the air"; "call down the spirits from the mountain" |
| ~ cause, do, make | give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally.; "cause a commotion"; "make a stir"; "cause an accident" |
| ~ pick | provoke.; "pick a fight or a quarrel" |
| v. (communication) | 3. provoke, stimulate | provide the needed stimulus for. |
| ~ entice, lure, tempt | provoke someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises or persuasion.; "He lured me into temptation" |
| ~ rejuvenate | cause (a stream or river) to erode, as by an uplift of the land. |
| ~ jog | stimulate to remember.; "jog my memory" |
| ~ instigate, incite, stir up, set off | provoke or stir up.; "incite a riot"; "set off great unrest among the people" |
| ~ challenge | issue a challenge to.; "Fischer challenged Spassky to a match" |
| ~ agitate, foment, stir up | try to stir up public opinion. |
| v. (emotion) | 4. beset, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, molest, plague, provoke | annoy continually or chronically.; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" |
| ~ needle, goad | goad or provoke,as by constant criticism.; "He needled her with his sarcastic remarks" |
| ~ annoy, devil, gravel, irritate, nark, rile, vex, bother, nettle, rag, chafe, get at, get to | 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" |
| ~ bedevil, dun, rag, crucify, frustrate, torment | treat cruelly.; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher" |
| ~ haze | harass by imposing humiliating or painful tasks, as in military institutions. |
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