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Pique   /pik/   Listen
noun
Pique  n.  A cotton fabric, figured in the loom, used as a dress goods for women and children, and for vestings, etc.


Pique  n.  (Zool.) The jigger. See Jigger.


Pique  n.  
1.
A feeling of hurt, vexation, or resentment, awakened by a social slight or injury; irritation of the feelings, as through wounded pride; stinging vexation. "Men take up piques and displeasures." "Wars had arisen... upon a personal pique."
2.
Keenly felt desire; a longing. "Though it have the pique, and long, 'Tis still for something in the wrong."
3.
(Card Playing) In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.
Synonyms: Displeasure; irritation; grudge; spite. Pique, Spite, Grudge. Pique denotes a quick and often transient sense of resentment for some supposed neglect or injury, but it is not marked by malevolence. Spite is a stronger term, denoting settled ill will or malice, with a desire to injure, as the result of extreme irritation. Grudge goes still further, denoting cherished and secret enmity, with an unforgiving spirit. A pique is usually of recent date; a grudge is that which has long subsisted; spite implies a disposition to cross or vex others.


verb
Pique  v. t.  (past & past part. piqued; pres. part. piquing)  
1.
To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to offend; to excite to anger. "Pique her, and soothe in turn."
2.
To excite to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate; to prick; as, to pique ambition, or curiosity.
3.
To pride or value; used reflexively. "Men... pique themselves upon their skill."
Synonyms: To offend; displease; irritate; provoke; fret; nettle; sting; goad; stimulate.


Pique  v. i.  To cause annoyance or irritation. "Every verse hath something in it that piques."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Pique" Quotes from Famous Books



... "And private pique," returned the major. "No matter! The end is the same. Justice shall be satisfied. To your steeds, my merry men all. Hark, ...
— Rookwood • William Harrison Ainsworth
... Mr. Stokes, but he could not give her a title. The duke could—if he would. But would he? She was rich, but there were others richer. People said that he was wary. Yet he admired Miss Daisy, it was true, and if by her flirtation with Mr. Stokes she could pique him into a proposal, ...
— The Motor Maid • Alice Muriel Williamson and Charles Norris Williamson
... the hard terms bestowed upon it by Millin[58] who calls it the most absurd, most infamous, and most detestable of all privileges, and adduces a very flagrant instance of injustice committed under its plea.—D'Alegre, governor of Gisors, in consequence of a private pique against the Baron du Hallot, lord of the neighboring town of Vernon, treacherously assassinated him at his own house, while he was yet upon crutches, in consequence of the wounds received at the siege of Rouen. This happened during the civil wars; in the course of which, Hallot had signalized himself ...
— Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. I. (of 2) • Dawson Turner
... came with the Cauldstaneslap party; then she lived at Cauldstaneslap. Here was Archie's secret, here was the woman, and more than that - though I have need here of every manageable attenuation of language - with the first look, he had already entered himself as rival. It was a good deal in pique, it was a little in revenge, it was much in genuine admiration: the devil may decide the proportions! I cannot, and it is very ...
— Weir of Hermiston • Robert Louis Stevenson
... down panting. She hardly understood her own rage, and she was quite conscious that, for her own interests, she had acted during the whole afternoon like a fool. First, stung by the pique excited in her by the talk of the luncheon-table, she had let herself be exploited and explored by Alicia Drake. She had not meant to tell her secret, but somehow she had told it, simply to give herself importance with this smart lady, and to feel her power ...
— The Testing of Diana Mallory • Mrs. Humphry Ward


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