From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtaunttaunt1 /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ verb [transitive] MAKE FUN OFto try to make someone angry or upset by saying unkind things to them → teasetaunt somebody about something The other children taunted him about his weight.taunt somebody with something They taunted him with the nickname ‘Fatso’. ‘And he’ll believe you, will he?’ Maria taunted. —tauntingly adverb→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
taunt• Of course he wasn't, an inner voice taunted.• They were accosted by three white youths who taunted and then attacked them.• The older boys taunted Chris and called him a girl.• Or maybe, as she'd taunted earlier, his actions were governed by boredom.• She was held in jail overnight, and she alleges in her lawsuit that guards taunted her with ethnic slurs.• Now the telephone had acquired a personality, sat on the shelf so smug, taunting her with its silence.• He couldn't forget how they had taunted him about his appearance.• She went on taunting him until he lost his temper.• They taunt me and beat me.• When I didn't want to fight he would taunt me repeatedly. "Coward, '' he would say, "coward, coward, coward....''• You can blast your buddies and taunt them verbally at the same time.taunttaunt2 noun [countable often plural] MAKE FUN OFa remark or joke intended to make someone angry or upset racist taunts► see thesaurus at commentExamples from the Corpus
taunt• Was this a recrimination, or a taunt?• He wears a bike helmet - even though it brings taunts from his peers.• The first Phoenix King had time to think of the daemons' taunts.• Black players have to endure endless taunts.• The four subjects of his taunts, Trow maintains, had to silence Marlowe because of what he knew.• To be the hired help is to be helpless in the face of taunts and insults.• Henri watched him go, trying to calm himself down, distressed at how easily he had succumbed to Richmann's taunts.• We had to endure racist and sexist taunts.• Did the taunts and rejection of women make him evil or was it just a part of his makeup?• The other two, second and third sisters, teased me too, but their taunts held no malice.Origin taunt1 (1500-1600) Perhaps from Old French tenter “to try, tempt” 