1 : to laugh at and criticize (someone) in a way that is either friendly and playful or cruel and unkind [+ obj] ▪ He and his wife enjoy teasing each other about their different tastes in music. ▪ The other children teased her because she was wearing braces. ▪ He was always teased by his brother about being short. [no obj] ▪ Oh, don't get so angry. I was just/only teasing! ▪ Stop your teasing! 2 [+ obj] : to annoy or bother (an animal)
▪ The boy's mother told him to stop teasing the dog. 3 [+ obj] US : to make (hair) look fuller or bigger by combing it in a special way
▪ She teases [=(chiefly Brit) backcombs] her hair. 4 : to make (someone) feel excitement or interest about something you might do or say without actually doing it or saying it [+ obj] ▪ Stop teasing us and tell us who your surprise guest is. [no obj] ▪ She likes to tease. 5 [+ obj] : to remove or separate (thin pieces of something) slowly and carefully
▪ The twisted strands of the rope were gently teased apart. — often + out ▪ They described the techniques used to tease out [=extract] genetic material from DNA. ▪ She carefully teased the roots of the young plant out of the soil. — often used figuratively ▪ Reporters are still trying to tease out [=find out] the details of the accident. ▪ It won't be easy to tease out the meaning of these statistics.