tease

[[t]ti͟ːz[/t]]

teases, teasing, teased

1) VERB To tease someone means to laugh at them or make jokes about them in order to embarrass, annoy, or upset them.

[V n] He told her how the boys in East Poldown had set on him, teasing him...

[V n about n/-ing] He teased me mercilessly about going Hollywood...

[V with quote] `You must be expecting a young man,' she teased.

Derived words:

teasing N-UNCOUNT also the N

She tolerated the teasing, until the fourth grade.

N-COUNT

Tease is also a noun.

Calling her by her real name had always been one of his teases.

2) N-COUNT: usu sing If you refer to someone as a tease, you mean that they like laughing at people or making jokes about them.

My brother's such a tease...

The best way to deal with a tease is to ignore him.

3) VERB If you say that someone is teasing, you mean that they are pretending to offer you something that you want, especially sex, but then not giving it to you.

I thought she was teasing, playing the innocent, but looking back, I'm not so sure...

[V n] When did you last flirt with him or tease him?

4) N-COUNT: usu sing (disapproval) If you refer to someone as a tease, you mean that they pretend to offer someone what they want, especially sex, but then do not give it to them.

Later she heard he had told one of her friends she was a tease.

5) → See also , striptease

Phrasal Verbs:

- tease out