Use the verb "tease" when one person bothers another person by saying something that causes discomfort. Children often tease each other, but adults are guilty of doing a lot of teasing also. Generally, it’s not nice to tease another person; however, it’s acceptable among friends and family.
All the kids at school teased Hugo about his new haircut.
Rosa is afraid that her friends will tease her about the backpack her mother bought for her.
It’s not nice to tease someone who is easily hurt by the teasing.
Bill and Jake tease each other all the time, but they’re still good friends.
Sarah teased her little brother until he started to cry.
My students used to tease me about my old car.
One other way of using "tease" is when a small amount of information increases a person’s curiosity:
The newscast teased it’s viewers by announcing an upcoming story about a bikini contest.
The grocery store likes to tease customers with coupons and sales, but overall the prices there are kind of high.
Linda likes to tease men by wearing skimpy clothing. (skimpy = not much)
The children teased the man because the clothes that he wore were foreign and unfashionable.
