poke around ( also poke about British English ) phrasal verb informal ( see also ↑ poke )
1 . to look for something, especially by moving a lot of things around
poke around in
James began poking about in the cupboard, looking for the sugar.
2 . to try to find out information about other people’s private lives, business etc, in a way that annoys them
poke around in
Stop poking around in my business!
3 . poke around (something) to spend time in shops, markets etc looking at nothing in particular SYN browse :
I spent Sunday afternoon poking around an old bookshop.