tease (redirected from teases)

tease someone about someone or something

to make fun of someone about someone or something; to poke fun at someone about someone or something. The boys teased Don about his girlfriend. Stop teasing me about it!

tease someone into doing something

to force someone to do something through teasing or tormenting. Sam teased her into doing what he wanted. Perhaps you can tease him into leaving, but he won't go if you ask him.

See also: doing

tease something out

Fig. to separate threads or hairs by combing. The hairdresser teased Jill's hair out carefully. The hairdresser teased out Jill's hair.

See also: out

tease something out of something and tease something out

to lure something out of something by teasing or tempting. I managed to tease the cat out of the tree with a bit offish. I teased out the cat.

See also: out

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tease out something also tease something out

to carefully separate particular facts from a great deal of information What has always been interesting for me is how you can tease out the reasons for an event as you review its history. After a while, you learn how to tease out the errors hidden in texts.

Related vocabulary: puzzle over something

See also: out