Meaning of Pique | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Enmity, ill feeling; (countable) a feeling of animosity or a dispute.
   uncountable
2. In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.
3. A chigger, chigoe, or jigger (Tunga penetrans), a species of tropical flea.
   obsolete
4. Synonym of pica (“a disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances”).
   obsolete, rare
5. A kind of corded or ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk.
   countable, uncountable
6. Irritation or resentment awakened by a social injury or slight; offence, especially taken in an emotional sense with little consideration or thought; (countable) especially in fit of pique: a transient feeling of wounded pride.
   uncountable
7. midgie, sand fly, punkie, punky (US)
8. A movement in which the raised, pointed foot of the working leg is lowered so that it pricks the floor and then either rebounds upward or becomes a supporting foot.
   countable
9. In pique of honour: a matter, a point.
   countable, obsolete

Equivalents

Examples

“Men take⟳ up piques and diſpleaſures at others, and then every opinion of the diſliked perſon muſt partake of his fate, and be engaged in the quarrel: […]”

“[H]e ſhew'd himself, out of ſome little pique, the moſt bitter enemy againſt the K[ing, i.e., Charles I of England] in all the Houſe [of Parliament], as well in action as ſpeech; […]”

“This dog and man at firſt were friends; / But when a pique began, / The dog, to gain⟳ his private ends, / Went mad and bit the man.”

“Not so Madame de Soissons, who at once divined his intentions and watched his progress⟳, internally resolving to render him every ill office pique could suggest⟳, or ridicule execute.”

“[L]ong, costly, and bloody wars had arisen upon a point⟳ of ceremony, upon a personal pique, upon a hasty word, upon some explosion of momentary caprice; […]”

“[T]here occurred one of the little skirmishes which it is almost impossible to avoid⟳, when some five-and-twenty women, old and young, with all their private piques and prejudices, try⟳ to work⟳ together.”

“Tuſh! tuſh! you take⟳ the grave peake uppon you too much: who would think⟳ you could ſo eaſily ſhake off your olde friendes?”

“Pray, my Lord, take⟳ no picque at it: 'tis not given to all men to be confident: […]”

“"'Tis because you are an indifferent person," said Lucy, with some pique, and laying a particular stress⟳ on those words, "that your judgment must justly have⟳ such weight with me.["]”

“"At all events," replied Francesca, "it could not be better bestowed, than as an offering, however unworthy, for his sake who is nearest and dearest to me in the world." / "I thank⟳ you for the implied compliment," returned Evelyn, in a tone of pique.”

“You think⟳ this is a personal thing with me? Are you telling me I think⟳ of this in terms of a personal pique?”

“This defiance was not a fit of pique, but a matter⟳ of principle. He [Mandela's father] was asserting his traditional prerogative as a chief and was challenging the authority of the magistrate.”

“[Jürgen] Klopp’s team had the better balance between attack and defence and, crucially, they got lucky with the disallowed goal that brought [Pep] Guardiola to the point⟳ of spontaneous combustion at half-time. Guardiola’s fit of pique led to his banishment from the dugout and City will wonder⟳ what might have⟳ happened if they had taken a 2–0 lead⟳ into the second half.”

“Add⟳ long preſcription of eſtabliſh'd laws, / And picque of honour to maintain⟳ a cauſe, / And ſhame of change⟳, and fear of future ill, / And Zeal, the blind conductor of the will; […]”

“Flip[panta]. Hark thee, Braſs, the Game's in our hands, if we can but play⟳ the Cards. / Br[ass]. Pique and Repique, you Jade you: If the Wives will fall⟳ into a good Intelligence.”

“Pique and linen also accented several coats and oftentimes were both detachable and formed an overcollar covering a collar made from the coat fabric.”

“The World is nat'rally averse / To all the truth it sees or hears, / But swallows Non-sense and a Lie⟳ / With greediness and gluttony; / And though it have⟳ the Pique, and long, / 'Tis still for something in the wrong: […]”

“I found three piqué shirts, each a shade lighter than the one before it, and each so fine and closely woven it shone like⟳ satin.”

CEFR level