(a.) Stimulating to the taste; giving zest; tart; sharp; pungent; as, a piquant anecdote.
Example Sentences:
(1) The present experiment shows that the piquant chow eaten by rats produced a fall in rectal temperature 48 h later.
(2) And there are entries that point to Peel as an incorrigible collector and tireless champion of the recherche: with all due respect to an oeuvre that included the piquant-sounding Fuckin' 4 Bucks and I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, how many albums by Washington DC splattercore pioneers the Accüsed does one man really need?
(3) One final thought: if Lebedev is toying with the idea of distributing the Independent for free, he may well be able, piquantly, to acquire the paper and its Sunday sister for the same price.
(4) The great lexicographer, of course, is as fat in fame as ever, though more for his piquant remarks to Boswell than for his own writings.
(5) In three experiments on the social induction of food preferences in rats, I found: (a) that eight 30-min exposures of a naive "observer" rat to a "demonstrator" rat fed one of two approximately equipalatable diets produced observer preference for the diet fed to its demonstrator that lasted for more than a month, (b) that simple exposure of naive subjects to a diet itself, rather than to a rat that had eaten a diet, was not sufficient to enhance preference for that diet, and (c) that lasting preference for an unpalatable, piquant diet could also be established by exposing naive rats to demonstrators that had eaten the piquant diet, but not by simply exposure to the piquant diet itself.
(6) In this series, the choice between piquant and nonpiquant chow showed that 4 rats out of 5 preferred to eat the chow without capsaicin.
(7) After this habituation period, when free to choose, 3 rats out of 4 preferred eating the piquant chow.
(8) The food cooked in this predominantly Muslim neighbourhood is as piquant as the hot pink and burnt orange painted houses that rise gently up the lower slopes of Signal Hill, part of Table Mountain.
(9) Clearly, this hyperreal simulation juxtaposes piquantly with the all-too real world in which Uruguayan football fans send death threats to the Newcastle United defender Paul Dummett for clattering their compatriot, striker Luis Suarez.
(10) The present experiment provides some evidence that rats accustomed to eat piquant food manifested, when free to choose, a preference for an innately unpalatable piquant chow.
(11) He rejoined the Guardian as sketchwriter and remained there for the rest of his working life, consistently finding even on the dullest and least eventful of days something vivid, piquant and unexpected to say.
(12) Just as Lolita , as Nabokov piquantly notes in his afterword, was variously read as "old Europe debauching young America" or "young America debauching old Europe", GTA IV leaves itself interpretatively open as to whether Niko is corrupted by America or whether he and his ilk (many of the most vicious characters whose paths Niko crosses are immigrants) are themselves bacterial agents of corruption.
(13) There is real dissent in Italy, and in its gentle but piquant way, Reality is part of that.
(14) It’s tempting to imagine that writer and director Andrew Haigh conjured that line in response to the more piquant criticisms of his series, whose lack of an obvious agenda led some to label it “post-gay”.
(15) When the club switched the catering contract from one local firm to another in the early 2000s, the new chef spent months trying to perfect the piquant blend, which his piqued predecessor refused to pass on.
Pique
Definition:
(n.) A cotton fabric, figured in the loom, -- used as a dress goods for women and children, and for vestings, etc.
(n.) The jigger. See Jigger.
(n.) A feeling of hurt, vexation, or resentment, awakened by a social slight or injury; irritation of the feelings, as through wounded pride; stinging vexation.
(n.) Keenly felt desire; a longing.
(n.) In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.
(v. t.) To wound the pride of; to sting; to nettle; to irritate; to fret; to offend; to excite to anger.
(v. t.) To excite to action by causing resentment or jealousy; to stimulate; to prick; as, to pique ambition, or curiosity.
(v. t.) To pride or value; -- used reflexively.
(v. i.) To cause annoyance or irritation.
Example Sentences:
(1) Davenport, possibly in a fit of pique at having been knocked out, said playing Mauresmo was like 'playing a guy'.
(2) I believe that it is too valuable to be destroyed in a fit of resentment, pique or disillusion.
(3) Photograph: Redferns Maurice made his Broadway debut in 1875 in Pique.
(4) For real will-this-do illustrating, look no further than conjoined twins Tip and Tap , although they admittedly boast a certain erstaz charm not seen post- Pique (the much-maligned Goleo VI and Pille the Erudite Ball apart).
(5) This week another couple of reader missives piqued our attention.
(6) 87 min: With the ball pinging around the Inter box, Pique takes the ball around Cesar and tries to shoot goalwards, only for a defender to hack clear.
(7) In any case, Caine’s interest was piqued by more mundane matters: it was the first time he had been asked to play a conductor.
(8) He turned down a contract with Nottingham Forest because his ambition was piqued by the more exciting opportunities that Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, could offer.
(9) 1998 Gaddafi expels 30,000 Palestinians from Libya in pique over Israel-PLO peace negotiations.
(10) 79 min: Birsa is booked for kicking the ball away in a fit of pique at a handball decision that went against him.
(11) 83 min: Ah, here's what happened: Clerc had come on for Reveillere, who was losing the place in a fit of pique.
(12) 54 min In a daft way Spain are lucky to just have conceded a goal, because both Casillas and Pique could have given away a penalty and been sent off during that attack.
(14) His dainty close control was beautiful and took him past both Pique and Puyol; then, from 10 yards, he deliberately poked the ball wide of Casillas with his right foot, and it came flush off the post.
(15) Barr believed that had piqued the interest of the "FBI, the Director of National Intelligence, and the US military".
(16) and quickly realise this won't pique anyone's interest enough for them to take time out of their superfast scrolling to reply.
(18) At the very end, his pique at a peak, Prince declared that language was so confining that 'I might just stop talking again and not do interviews'.
(19) He is piqued by their European ban , and with good reason: what is Wesley Sneijder without the Champions League, what is the Champions League without Wesley Sneijder?
(20) The symbolist writer Merezhkovsky, piqued, had characterised all futurists as boors.