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provoquer

to provoke, cause

verb pro-vo-KEH Less Common
Communication Speech

Also means

to trigger, bring about

Usage Note

Provoquer can mean both 'to deliberately provoke a person' and 'to cause or trigger an event': provoquer un accident ('to cause an accident'). The agent noun is provocateur / provocatrice. The noun provocation is a direct cognate of English 'provocation'.

Examples

"Ces mots ont provoqué une dispute."

Natural Translation

Those words provoked an argument.

Literal Translation

These words have provoked a dispute

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