arouse

verb

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\ ə-ˈrau̇z

aroused; arousing

Definition of arouse

transitive verb

1 : to awaken from sleep was aroused from a deep sleep by a loud noise

2 : to stimulate to action or to bodily readiness for activity : excite a book that has aroused debate

3 : to excite (someone) sexually : to cause sexual arousal in (someone) … girls whose perfume scent frightened him and aroused him.— Elizabeth Berg

intransitive verb

: to awake from sleep : stir

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Examples of arouse in a Sentence

The report aroused a great deal of public interest. The husky sound of her voice could always arouse him. Their proposal is certain to arouse the opposition.

Recent Examples on the Web Along the way, CJNG relied on residents like Roger Dale and Lisa Dawn to deal its drugs to users — people who would seamlessly blend with the local community without arousing suspicion. — courier-journal.com, "How this couple ran a ‘redneck’ meth empire in an Appalachian county ravaged by addiction," 25 Nov. 2019 Caroline’s encounter had aroused his protective instinct, too. — Zora Neale Hurston, Harper's magazine, "The Country in the Woman," 6 Jan. 2020 TikTok’s Chinese ownership has aroused US lawmakers concerned about censorship and users’ data. — BostonGlobe.com, "TikTok rescinds ban on US teen who slammed China’s crackdown on Muslims - The Boston Globe," 29 Nov. 2019 The large presence of migrants on those islands — about 35,000 in all — has aroused the hostility of parts of the local population. — Washington Post, "Greece shifts migrants from overcrowded islands to mainland," 3 Nov. 2019 The ultimate impeachment political test may lie not in conclusions reached, but in intensity of feelings aroused. — Gerald F. Seib, WSJ, "Trump’s Impeachment Is Virtually Over. What Did It Change?," 1 Feb. 2020 Reuters/Will Dunham Few topics arouse the passions of Americans like god and government and whether the twain shall meet. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "A major church and state case ignites ungodly amounts of debate at US Supreme Court," 21 Jan. 2020 Petrol arouses passions in Iran like no other commodity. — The Economist, "Rises in the price of petrol are fuelling unrest in Iran," 21 Nov. 2019 Recent moves arousing suspicion in India include China taking control of a major port in Sri Lanka and signing groundbreaking trade deals with Nepal, and its navy conducting anti-piracy operations in the western Indian Ocean. — James Griffiths, CNN, "China's Xi Jinping is stepping very, very delicately into the Kashmir crisis," 11 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'arouse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.