POKE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Poke

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/poʊk/ Listen

verb

Poke v. t. (past & past part. poked; pres. part. poking)

To thrust or push against or into with anything pointed; hence, to stir up; to excite; as, to poke a fire. "He poked John, and said "Sleepest thou?""

To thrust with the horns; to gore.

To put a poke on; as, to poke an ox. (Colloq. U. S.)

To poke fun, to excite fun; to joke; to jest. (Colloq.)

To poke fun at, to make a butt of; to ridicule. (Colloq.)

Poke v. i. To search; to feel one's way, as in the dark; to grope; as, to poke about. "A man must have poked into Latin and Greek."

noun

Poke n. (Bot.) A large North American herb of the genus Phytolacca (Phytolacca decandra), bearing dark purple juicy berries; called also garget, pigeon berry, pocan, and pokeweed. The root and berries have emetic and purgative properties, and are used in medicine. The young shoots are sometimes eaten as a substitute for asparagus, and the berries are said to be used in Europe to color wine.

Poke n.

A bag; a sack; a pocket. "He drew a dial from his poke." "They wallowed as pigs in a poke."

A long, wide sleeve; called also poke sleeve.

To boy a pig a poke (that is, in a bag), to buy a thing without knowledge or examination of it.

Poke n.

The act of poking; a thrust; a jog; as, a poke in the ribs.

A lazy person; a dawdler; also, a stupid or uninteresting person. (Slang, U.S.)

A contrivance to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences. It consists of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward. (U.S.)

Poke bonnet, a bonnet with a straight, projecting front.

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Etymology of 'Poke'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Poke" Quotes from Famous Books

... pay social visits. Of his skill we knew fearsome stories, as that, by looking at Archie Allardyce, who had come to broken bones on a ladder, he discovered which rung Archie fell from. When he entered a stuffy room he would poke his staff through the window to let in fresh air, and then fling down a shilling to pay for the breakage. He was deaf in the right ear, and therefore usually took the left side of prosy people, thus, as he explained, making a blessing of an affliction. "A pity I ...

— The Little Minister • J.M. Barrie

... ominous words surprised her. Did he, too, believe in the fatal omen, though he was trying to mislead her and poke fun at the ...

— The House of Whispers • William Le Queux

... this War. Kaisers and Czars will strut the stage Once more with pomp and greed and rage; Courtly ministers will stop At home and fight to the last drop; By the million men will die In some new horrible agony; And children here will thrust and poke, Shoot and die, and laugh at the joke, With bows and arrows and wooden spears, ...

— Fairies and Fusiliers • Robert Graves

... burning up some old papers, They do make a good deal of smoke: That's right, Dolly, open the window; They'll blaze if you give them a poke. I've got a lot more in the closet; Just look at the dust! What a mess! Why, read it, of course, if you want to, It's only ...

— Point Lace and Diamonds • George A. Baker, Jr.

... air, with the fierce shouts of murder ringing in his ear, woke in as great a fright as the women in the bed, and became a party in the terror he himself had produced; every plunge he gave under the bed inflicted a poke or a kick on his mother and cousin, which was answered by the cry ...

— Handy Andy, Volume One - A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes • Samuel Lover

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