teasing

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tease/tiːz/

▶verb

• 1 playfully make fun of or attempt to provoke.

  ■ tempt sexually.

• 2 gently pull or comb (tangled wool, hair, etc.) into separate strands.

  ■ chiefly N. Amer. backcomb (hair).

  ■ archaic comb (the surface of woven cloth) to raise a nap.

• 3 (tease something out) find something out by searching through a mass of information.

▶noun informal

• 1 an act of teasing.

• 2 a person who teases.

  ■ a person who tempts someone sexually with no intention of satisfying the desire aroused.

– derivatives
teasing adjective & noun,
teasingly adverb.

– origin OE tǣsan, of W. Gmc origin; rel. to teasel.