teasing

Pluralteasings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of tease.

   The stylist was teasing her hair at the crown to give it more height.

   The smell of fresh bread was teasing us from the bakery across the street.

   Note

   What is being teased tells you the meaning: teasing a younger brother is making fun of him, teasing a new album is giving a glimpse of it, and teasing hair at the crown is combing it backward toward the roots for height. The preview use is colloquial, and before a noun the form turns into an adjective, as in a teasing smile.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Harassing or provoking someone, playfully or maliciously, especially by ridiculing them, pestering them, or making fun or light of them.

   She put up with years of teasing about her accent before she learned to laugh along.

   After some good-natured teasing from his teammates, he stopped wearing the bright orange socks.

   Similarribbing, tease

   Note

   The same word covers affection and cruelty, so the adjective in front does the work: gentle or good-natured teasing between siblings, against teasing that can count as workplace abuse. It counts or not as the sentence needs, so a person may suffer years of teasing or remember the teasings of a schoolyard.

3. 3
   adjective

   Annoying or provoking someone in a playful way, especially by making fun of them.

   "Nice hat," he said in a teasing tone, and she swatted his arm.

   The best man's speech was full of teasing jokes about the groom's terrible cooking.

   Similarmocking

4. 4
   adjective

   Arousing sexual desire without any intention of satisfying it.

   The perfume ad relied on a teasing glimpse of bare shoulder and a closing door.

   Her teasing whisper promised more than she ever meant to give.

   Similartantalizing, provocative, titillating, suggestive

   Note

   A teasing glance, smile or whisper can belong here or to the playful, mocking sense, and only context settles it. This one promises something and then withholds it, while the other only pokes fun; the actress who gives a teasing glance before walking away is flirting, not mocking.

5. 5
   adjective

   Producing a feeling of irritation or annoyance.

   A teasing draft from the cracked window kept her shivering through the meeting.

   The wool sweater left a teasing prickle on his neck all afternoon.

   Similarannoying, irritating, bothersome, pesky, vexing

6. 6
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of combing tangles out of one's hair.

   Patient teasing with a wide-tooth comb freed the matted tangles without any cutting.

   Her morning routine began with a slow teasing of the snarls left from sleep.

   Similarcombing

   Note

   This teasing works in the opposite direction from the stylist's backcombing, which pushes hair toward the roots to make it stand up; here the comb coaxes knots free, close to a comb-out. Talk of tangles, snarls or a fine-tooth comb tells the two apart.

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