poke
pronunciation
How to pronounce poke in British English:
UK [pəʊk]
How to pronounce poke in American English:
US [poʊk]
-
- Noun:
- tall coarse perennial American herb having small white flowers followed by blackish-red berries on long drooping racemes; young fleshy stems are edible; berries and root are poisonous
- a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
- a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
- (boxing) a blow with the fist
-
- Verb:
- poke or thrust abruptly
- search or inquire in a meddlesome way
- stir by poking
- hit hard with the hand, fist, or some heavy instrument
- make a hole by poking
Word Origin
- poke
- poke: see pocket
- poke (v.)
- "to push, prod, thrust," especially with something pointed, c. 1300, puken "to poke, nudge," of uncertain origin, perhaps from or related to Middle Dutch poken "to poke" (Dutch beuken), or Middle Low German poken "to stick with a knife" (compare German pochen "to knock, rap"), both from Proto-Germanic root *puk-, perhaps imitative. Related: Poked; poking. To poke fun "tease" first attested 1840; to poke around "search" is from 1809. To poke along "advance lazily; walk at a leisurely pace" is from 1833.
- poke (n.1)
- "small sack," early 13c., probably from Old North French poque (12c., Old French poche) "purse, poke, purse-net," probably from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *puk- (cognates: Old English pohha, pocca "bag, pocket," Middle Dutch poke, Old Norse poki "bag, pouch, pocket," dialectal German Pfoch), from PIE root *beu-, an imitative root associated with words for "to swell" (see bull (n.2)).
- poke (n.2)
- "pokeweed; a weed used in medicine and dyeing," colonial American, from native words, possibly a confusion of similar-sounding Native American plant names; from 1630s in English as "tobacco plant," short for uppowoc (1580s), from Algonquian (Virginia) *uppowoc. Later (1708) the word is used in the sense "pokeweed," as a shortened form of puccoon, from Algonquian (Virginia) *puccoon, name of a plant used for dyeing." Native roots for "smoke" and "stain" have been proposed as the origin or origins.
- poke (n.3)
- "an act of poking," 1796, originally pugilistic slang, from poke (v.). Also (1809) the name of a device, like a yoke with a pole, attached to domestic animals such as pigs and sheep to keep them from escaping enclosures. Hence slowpoke, and compare pokey. Slang sense "act of sexual intercourse" is attested from 1902.
Example
- 1. That would be a real poke in israel 's eye .
- 2. Am I supposed to poke my fingers onto a flat screen and use a keyboard at the same time ?
- 3. Poke them around until they 're reduced to a pile of ashes .
- 4. When we don 't see clear category navigation on a beautiful site , we poke around with our mouse looking for the category links .
- 5. " People were talking about doha or bahrain but I 'd rather poke my eyes out , " says the 28-year-old scot .