Definition of tantalise:

part of speech: verb

To tease or torment by presenting some object of pleasure or desire just within reach to be again placed beyond it; to excite expectations or fears which will not be realised; to tease.

Usage examples:

• I knew it was the water of the sea- salt, and of no service to me, even could I have reached it- but still it was the sound of water playing continually on my ears as if to mock and tantalise me. Mayne Reid in "The Boy Tar".

• Bansemer was alone and where Droom's eyes could not see him, but something told him that the grin hung outside the door for many minutes, as if waiting for a chance to pop in and tantalise him. George Barr McCutcheon in "Jane Cable".

• One would say that the Spring driven from every place, from the gloomy immensity of the heavens and from the frozen surface of the earth has, as we, sought refuge under ground; or rather that her wandering ghost returns at stated seasons to visit us and tantalise us by her haunting presence. Gabriel Tarde in "Underground Man".

• As if to tantalise them, they now beheld for the first time the objects of their far expedition- the animals they had so long desired to come up with- the buffaloes! Captain Mayne Reid in "The Boy Hunters".