I. ˈpōk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French poke, poque, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English pocca, pohha bag, pocket, Middle Dutch poke bag, Middle High German pfoch pouch, purse, Old Norse poki pouch, Old English pocc pock — more at pock
1.
a.
(1) chiefly South & Midland : bag , sack
take the boys a poke of candy — H.D.Skidmore
(2) : a pouch or purse for carrying nuggets of gold or gold dust
threw their thick pokes of gold carelessly onto the counter — E.B.Lung
(3) slang : wallet
b. chiefly dialect : pocket
2. slang : an accumulated sum of money : wad
spent his poke — Chesley Wilson
struck it rich and kept his poke — Time
3.
a.
(1) : a swelling (as a goiter) on the neck
(2) : a swelling appearing on sheep and associated with liver fluke infestation
b. : a disease caused by liver fluke infestation
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English poken; akin to Middle Dutch poken to poke, stick, Middle Low German pōken to stick with a knife, and perhaps to Old Irish būalaim I strike
transitive verb
1. archaic : incite , rouse
2.
a.
(1) : to prod or jab with or as if with the end of one's finger or the end of a stick or with the end of some similar object
poked him in the ribs and grinned broadly
poked the burlap bag with a broom handle
(2) : to set into movement or push or urge along by means of prodding or jabbing
all he had ever done was poke a team or explore the trail or push cattle along — A.B.Guthrie
(3) : to stir up (as the coals of a fire) with or as if with a poker
staring into the fireplace and occasionally poking the glowing embers
b.
(1) : pierce , stab
a straw man that had been poked through with a pitchfork
(2) : to produce by piercing, stabbing, or jabbing
poked a hole in the drum
c.
(1) : to strike with the fist : hit , punch , sock
poked him in the nose
(2) : to deliver (a blow) with the fist
first poked a right to the chin and then a left to the body
threatened to poke him one
3.
a.
(1) : to move, thrust, or shove especially with a quick action or with sudden force
poked his head round the corner — Dorothy Sayers
(2) : to cause to be directed in a particular direction or toward a particular thing by or as if by thrusting or shoving
had poked the head of a boat into the mud — Frederick Way
poked his finger at his client — Willa Cather
b. : to cause to stick out : cause to project
kept poking her head in and out of the cab window — Louis Bromfield
c. : to thrust forward in such a way as to be intrusive : interpose or interject in a prying or otherwise meddlesome manner : push forward obtrusively
asked him not to poke his nose into other people's business
poking their great stupid faces into everything — Times Literary Supplement
4. : to confine in some stodgy poky place
didn't want to stay poked up in that town
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make a prodding, jabbing, or thrusting movement especially repeatedly
walked up and down and poked among the rocks — John Masefield
b. : to strike out at something with or as if with the fist
kept poking at him but never hit him
cranks who poke at the schools — W.L.Miller
2.
a. : to go investigating, looking about, or rummaging through something inquisitively without much order or system
went into the attic where they poked about among old boxes and trunks — Louis Bromfield
they went everywhere, they poked into everything — G.W.Johnson
if he cared to poke about in his unconscious — Clifton Fadiman
b. : to pry into something in an intrusive or otherwise meddlesome way
is notoriously hostile to people who go poking into his private affairs — Irving Howe
3.
a. : to live in or stay about a stodgy place : live in or hang about a place pokily
doesn't want to poke around in that town any longer
b. : to move or act with marked slowness : move or act in a largely ineffective, desultory, or aimless way : putter , dawdle
watched the traffic poking along the road
just poked around at home and didn't accomplish much
talked for a while and then poked off
4.
a.
(1) : to become stuck out : undergo thrusting out : protrude
saw his head poking through the window
(2) : to become extended or thrust forward
saw to it that the railroad poked down closer to Texas — S.E.Fletcher
into the jumbled wilderness … poke the beginnings of a fabulous highway — R.L.Neuberger
b. : to come into sight or notice especially with real or apparent suddenness : be visible or noticeable by being extended above, beyond, or out of something
bell towers poke above the trees — Yale Review
•
- poke fun at
III. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a quick thrust : jab , dig
felt a poke in the ribs
b. : a blow with the fist : punch
gave him a poke on the nose
2.
a.
(1) : slowpoke
(2) : an annoyingly stupid individual : dumbbell
b. : cowboy 3a
3. : a poky place
wondered how people put up with living in a little poke like that — Mary Lavin
4. : a device designed to keep an animal (as a cow, horse) from breaking through or jumping over fences and consisting typically of a collar from which a rod or pole hangs down at an angle so as to extend ahead of the animal
5.
a. : a projecting brim on the front of a woman's bonnet
b. : poke bonnet
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: modification of puccoon, pakon (in some Algonquian language of Virginia) any of various plants used for staining and dyeing, from pak blood
: pokeweed
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: by shortening
: shitepoke