I. ˈpōch transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English pochen, from Middle French pocher, from Old French pochier, literally, to put into a bag (the white of the egg being regarded as the bag in which the yolk is contained), from poche bag, pocket, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch poke bag — more at poke (bag)
1. : to cook in a liquid kept just below the boiling point
trout poached in bouillon
2. : to cook (as an egg) in a poacher
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle French pocher, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch poken to poke, stick — more at poke (to prod)
transitive verb
1. dialect chiefly England : to push, shove, or thrust roughly or forcefully : poke
2. : to trample or cut up with hoofs : make soft or muddy : make mudholes in
good for grass, too, to be trodden except they poach it, where it's sodden — John Masefield
3.
a. : to trespass on
a field poached too frequently by the amateur — Times Literary Supplement
— often used with on or upon
what happens to a poet when he poaches upon a novelist's preserves — Virginia Woolf
b. : to take (game or fish) by illegal methods : steal
men were transported with the worst felons for poaching a few hares or pheasants — G.B.Shaw
4. : potch
5. : to wash free from acid, thoroughly mix, and make uniform by agitation in a boiling weakly alkaline solution followed by boiling water — used of cellulose nitrate pulp
intransitive verb
1. dialect chiefly England : poke
2.
a. : to sink into mud or mire while walking : plod through mud or soft ground : plunge about
b. : to become soft or muddy and full of holes when trampled on
swampy country that is inclined to poach in the winter — W.G.Batt & A.V.Allo
3. : to trespass for the purpose of stealing game : take game or fish illegally
had taken to poaching as a means of supplying fresh meat for the table — H.D.Quillin
4. : to play a ball in a racket game that should normally be played by one's partner
III. transitive verb
: to attract (as an employee or customer) away from a competitor