taunt

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++taunt1 /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ verb [transitive]  MAKE FUN OFto try to make someone angry or upset by saying unkind things to them 〔用言语〕挑衅，侮辱，嘲弄，奚落 → teasetaunt somebody about something The other children taunted him about his weight. 别的孩子嘲笑他长得胖。taunt somebody with something They taunted him with the nickname ‘Fatso’. 他们嘲弄他，给他起个绰号叫“胖子”。 ‘And he’ll believe you, will he?’ Maria taunted. “他会相信你的，对吧？”玛丽亚嘲讽道。 —tauntingly adverb→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

taunt• Of course he wasn't, an inner voice taunted.• They were accosted by three white youths who taunted and then attacked them.• The older boys taunted Chris and called him a girl.• Or maybe, as she'd taunted earlier, his actions were governed by boredom.• She was held in jail overnight, and she alleges in her lawsuit that guards taunted her with ethnic slurs.• Now the telephone had acquired a personality, sat on the shelf so smug, taunting her with its silence.• He couldn't forget how they had taunted him about his appearance.• She went on taunting him until he lost his temper.• They taunt me and beat me.• When I didn't want to fight he would taunt me repeatedly. "Coward, '' he would say, "coward, coward, coward....''• You can blast your buddies and taunt them verbally at the same time.taunt2 noun [countable often plural]  MAKE FUN OFa remark or joke intended to make someone angry or upset 言语挑衅；侮辱；嘲弄，讥笑 racist taunts 种族主义嘲讽言论► see thesaurus at comment

Examples from the Corpus

taunt• Was this a recrimination, or a taunt?• He wears a bike helmet - even though it brings taunts from his peers.• The first Phoenix King had time to think of the daemons' taunts.• Black players have to endure endless taunts.• The four subjects of his taunts, Trow maintains, had to silence Marlowe because of what he knew.• To be the hired help is to be helpless in the face of taunts and insults.• Henri watched him go, trying to calm himself down, distressed at how easily he had succumbed to Richmann's taunts.• We had to endure racist and sexist taunts.• Did the taunts and rejection of women make him evil or was it just a part of his makeup?• The other two, second and third sisters, teased me too, but their taunts held no malice.Origin taunt1 (1500-1600) Perhaps from Old French tenter “to try, tempt”

taunt1 verbtaunt2 nounChinese  

Corpus upset make someone angry to or try to

taunt

I

taunt¹ /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ verb [transitive]to try to make someone angry or upset by saying unkind things to them ⇨ tease
    taunt somebody about something
    The other children taunted him about his weight.
    taunt somebody with something
    They taunted him with the nickname ‘Fatso’.
    ‘And he’ll believe you, will he?’ Maria taunted.
—tauntingly adverb
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ tease to laugh at someone and make jokes in order to have fun by embarrassing them, either in a friendly way or in an unkind way. In everyday English, people often say make fun of rather than tease: At work, we all tease her because she’s always late. | Sam’s sisters used to tease him because he was overweight.
   ▪ make fun of somebody/something to tease someone, especially in an unkind way, by laughing at something they do and making them seem stupid: The boys at school used to make fun of me and call me names. | Everyone made fun of the way our Maths teacher walked.
   ▪ taunt /tɔːnt tɔːnt/ to tease someone in a very unpleasant way that shows you do not respect them, in order to make them angry or upset: In the end he hit the man for taunting him about his wife. | The other prisoners taunted him until he couldn’t bear it any more.
   ▪ pull sb’s leg informal to tease someone in a friendly way, by trying to make them think something is true when it is not: I’m not really 18. I was only pulling your leg. | I don’t believe you! You’re pulling my leg!
   ▪ wind somebody up British English informal to deliberately say something to someone, in order to see if they become annoyed or worried: Are you trying to wind me up? | My friends are always winding me up about it.
   ▪ take the mickey (out of somebody) British English informal to make someone look silly, often in a friendly way, for example by copying them or saying something that you do not really mean about them: I don’t speak like that – stop taking the mickey! | ‘You’re a genius, we all know that!’ ‘Are you taking the mickey out of me?’

II

taunt² noun [countable often plural]
a remark or joke intended to make someone angry or upset:
    racist taunts
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ comment something that you say or write in order to give your opinion: Does anyone have any comments? | Readers are invited to send in their comments and suggestions.
   ▪ remark something that you say: Just ignore them if they start making rude remarks. | I’m not sure what he meant by that last remark.
   ▪ point something that someone mentions about a subject in a discussion, argument, article etc: That’s an interesting point, Steve. | He raises (=mentions) a number of important points in his paper.
   ▪ observation a comment in which you say what you think or have noticed about something: Karl Marx made the observation that history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce.
   ▪ aside a comment made in a low voice, that you intend only certain people to hear: ‘Is that true?’, she whispered in an aside to Don.
   ▪ quip /kwɪp/ a clever and amusing comment: She knew she should reply with some light-hearted quip.
   ▪ dig informal a comment you make to annoy or criticize someone: I’m tired of her little digs at me.
   ▪ taunt /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ a comment intended to make someone angry or upset: The fans made racist taunts throughout the game.