I said [did] nothing to provoke him.

我可没惹他呀！

《新英汉大辞典》

The article was intended to provoke discussion.

这篇文章旨在引发讨论。

《牛津词典》

His duty was to conciliate the people, not to provoke them.

他的任务是安抚这些人，而不是激怒他们。

《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》

"Land is a major social and political issue,very explosive and very much inclined to provoke a lot of conflict in different parts of the country.

VOA: standard.2009.08.23

The problems that Frost poses are problems of interpretation, - problems that provoke you to ask not, "what does he mean exactly?

弗罗斯特给我们的困难是翻译，是使人不发问这样的问题，“他到底要说什么“

耶鲁公开课 - 现代诗歌课程节选

Mr.Zelaya told reporters he feared the interim government would provoke violence and might even invade the Brazilian embassy compound to seize him.

VOA: standard.2009.09.22

Perhaps he sees them as model democracies—or perhaps he merely wants to provoke Mr Bush.

ECONOMIST: Venezuela's opposition

Some Democrats think Mr Bush is trying to provoke a fight over the issue.

ECONOMIST: Michael Hayden wants to shake up the CIA. Good luck to him