agitate

Cheaper Mexican workers had been welcomed during World War I, and were still coming north more casually back then, even as a U.S. labor group was beginning to agitate for organizing American migrant farm workers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Torres captured the broader institutional despair bluntly when he admitted he lacked confidence in regulators but felt there was “no choice but to agitate for accountability.”

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

They are notorious goons, despised virtually everywhere for their ability to agitate, aggrieve and annoy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

Little things are starting to agitate me every day.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

“We are serving tea, sir, though calling it chocolate so as not to agitate the sensibilities of Patriots.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

And this is kind of a shame, because the story agitates the brain far more than it does the stomach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025

Conversely, when researchers injected the rats with a substance that agitates the immune system, the inflammatory cytokine levels rapidly shot up.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024

Tinseltown, it seems, is in the midst of an AI boom — even as its creative class agitates for limits on how that technology gets deployed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2023

At a couple of bars, I’ve even encountered a machine that holds two shakers and agitates them for minutes on end.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2019

Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee’s temper.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

Reyes believes the pair agitated the dog, who reacted in self-defense.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

We have agitated for paid parental leave, universal childcare, better public schools, child allowances, and other help for struggling parents.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

Wilby told the court he had hoped to continue their previous conversation about the constituent on the Tube, but claimed Creasy "became quite agitated" and that he was "quite shocked by her reaction".

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

After an agitated week, it felt like a proper, pleasant ending.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

He was becoming agitated so I put my hand on his arm.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

“We do not know the answer, but we have seen them take this approach in other situations when agitating for change,” Moskow said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Internally, he began agitating to offer a more fair deal to the firm’s investors amid all the losses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Landlocked Ethiopia, home to around 130 million people and one of Africa’s strongest economies, has been agitating for sea access.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

The dollar rallied, even though Warsh has been agitating for more rate cuts, which tend to undermine the dollar’s value.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026

“Maybe I should”—Gat took my hands, turned them over to look at the words written on the backs—“I should live for today and not be agitating all the time.”

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart