get a rise out of (one)
To prompt an annoyed, irritated, or angry reaction from one; to provoke one so that they will react negatively. Don't pay any attention to him, Bill, he's just trying to get a rise out of you. My brother knows that I'm both gullible and easy to irritate, so he loves getting a rise out of me. Do you bring up tax reform at family dinners solely to get a rise out of Uncle Ned, or what?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
get a rise out of
Elicit an angry or irritated reaction, as in His teasing always got a rise out of her. This expression alludes to the angler's dropping a fly in a likely spot in the hope that a fish will rise to this bait.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
get (or take) a rise out of
provoke an angry or irritated response from someone, especially by teasing them. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
get a rise out of someone, to
To provoke to action or to anger. This term probably comes from fishing, in which the angler drops a fly in a likely spot and lets it float, hoping that the fish will rise to the bait. It was transferred to figurative use—that is, getting someone to lose his or her temper—early in the nineteenth century. Thackeray wrote, “Oh, but it was a rare rise we got out of them chaps” (Catherine, 1840).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer