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Taunt
//tɔːnt// adj, name, noun, verb
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Very high or tall. obsolete
"the great ships, for want of ſufficient masts, will lose the advantages the taunt masts would procure"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Noun
- 1 A scornful or mocking remark; a jeer or mockery.
"VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo."
- 2 aggravation by deriding or mocking or criticizing wordnet
Verb
- 1 To make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner. transitive
- 2 harass with persistent criticism or carping wordnet
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt.
Etymology 2
From Middle French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt.
Etymology 3
Compare Old French tant (“so great”), French tant (“so much”), Latin tantus (“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt.
Etymology 4
Perhaps a variant of Daunt.
See also for "taunt"
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