vex

Etymology

From Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin vēxāre (“disturb, agitate, annoy”). Doublet of quake. Displaced native Old English dreċċan and gremman.

verb

1. (transitive) To annoy, irritate.
   Billy's professor was vexed by his continued failure to improve his grades.
2. (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
3. (transitive, now rare) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
4. (transitive, rare) To twist, to weave.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
   Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought 1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois
6. (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.

noun

1. (Scotland, obsolete) A trouble.