tempting

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tempt fate

1. To do something that one knows is dangerous or likely to have a negative outcome. You're really tempting fate by not taking your car in for service when all these dashboard lights are on.

2. To invite bad luck or unpleasant situations by showing one's confidence in something. I'm afraid to tempt fate, but I really think I did well on the exam.

See also: fate, tempt

tempt (one) into (something or some place)

1. To entice or allure one to enter some place or thing. The beautiful woman kept giving the married man flirty looks to try to tempt him into the hot tub with her. There's no way you could tempt me into some underwater cage surrounded by sharks!

2. To entice or allure one to do something. A: "Could I tempt you into joining our company?" B: "No thanks, I'm very happy in my current job." The promise of adventure and a guaranteed job placement is tempting me into moving to Japan to teach English.

tempt (one) to (do something)

To entice or allure one to do something. A: "Could I tempt you to join our company?" B: "No thanks, I'm very happy in my current job." The promise of adventure and a guaranteed job placement is tempting me to move to Japan to teach English.

tempt (someone or an animal) with (something)

To entice, attract, or allure someone or an animal with something. I really don't want to relocate to Alaska, but the company is tempting me with a huge bonus. We tried tempting the lion with a slab of meat, but it refused to leave its cage.

tempt fate

Also, tempt the fates. Take a severe risk, as in It's tempting fate to start up that mountain so late in the day, or Patrice thought driving that old car was tempting the fates; it was sure to break down . This expression uses tempt in the sense of "test in a way that involves risk or danger." Earlier idioms with a similar meaning were tempt God, dating from the 1300s, and tempt fortune, first recorded in 1603, with fate appearing about 1700.

See also: fate, tempt

tempt fate

COMMON

1. If someone tempts fate, they take unnecessary risks or do something that may bring them bad luck. They charged the organisers with tempting fate by sending so many ill-prepared crews into such dangerous waters. Note: You can also say that someone tempts providence. I used to take the most appalling risks because it was in my nature to push everything to the extreme. I was tempting providence all the time.

2. If you tempt fate, you talk too confidently about something which may go wrong. While I wouldn't want to tempt fate, almost every time this team has been put under pressure, they've triumphed. Note: You can also say that someone tempts providence. I'm 36 and I'd hate to tempt providence and say I'm going to get pregnant.

See also: fate, tempt

tempt fate (or providence)

act rashly. informal

See also: fate, tempt

References in periodicals archive ?

find yourself tempting foods the sight or encourage tempted by meals which are visually stimulating and different from the norm.

Find out your food identity How we react to food could say a lot about our character. Ella Walker learns the five eating personalities; How we react to food could say a lot about our character. Ella Walker learns the five eating personalities

If the synopsis of Tempting God's plot is not confusing enough, the book's strange leaps will keep the reader guessing throughout the story.

Tempting God

While it may be tempting to directly threaten them in order to generate movement, this alone seldom produces long-term success.

Creating readiness and involvement

TEMPTING: The new Arosa comes in an enticing package

Unbeatable value and style

NO As a minister, I admit that the idea of taxpayer-supported aid for my tax-exempt institution is tempting. But to be faithful to the constitutional separation of church and state, we should all be cautious about government subsidies for religiously based programs, however noble their goals.

Partners: God and Uncle Sam?

Perhaps this is because they find it tempting, and by giving it up they can learn something about temptation.

Theme for today

A student of this insect's taste preferences, DeMilo is helping concoct tempting flavorings for pesticides that smite the rootworm, which costs U.S.

The Bitter End

Because the book is disappointingly less than the sum of its parts, it is tempting to imagine an improved version.

Church and Revolution: Catholics in the Struggle for Democracy and Social Justice

It is easy and perhaps too tempting for progressives to proclaim that the sky is falling.

Global warning

The edge feels safe and that's dangerous, the aberrant painfully tempting, any number of horrors just this side of possible.

The world is a dangerous place

Not that Pondick doesn't ask for it; any artist who uses beds, baby bottles, and shoes as her signature materials is obviously tempting her viewers to play Freud.

Rona Pondick

Setting new financial boundaries before you move into what is a very tempting time is a positive use of your money, planet Venus.

ARIES Mar 21>Apr 20

This is the most tempting Cadillac yet for Europe, but if you want one, you will probably have to buy from the dealer network because only small numbers have been sold.

The most tempting Cadillac yet; UsedCar

Anyway, Honda has some tempting finance deals across its range on loads of different bikes.

HONDA WONDER; Top Gear's motoring maniac...he's got va va vroom

Kirk (pictured) asked his dad: "Do you want me to get on the floor and you can just kick me while I'm down?" It's tempting, Kirk, very tempting.