Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VEX, v.t. [L. vexo; Fr. vexer; It. vessare; Sp. vexar.]

1. To irritate; to make angry by little provocations; a popular use of the word.
2. To plague; to torment; to harass; to afflict. Ten thousand torments vex my heart. – Prior.
3. To disturb; to disquiet; to agitate. White curl the waves, and the vex'd ocean roars. – Pope.
4. To trouble; to distress. I will also vex the hearts of many people. Ezek. xxxii.
5. To persecute. Acts xii.
6. To stretch, as by hooks. [Not in use.] – Dryden.