poke

Poke is defined as to prod or push.

(verb)

An example of poke is for a child to keep sticking his finger into his brother's arm.

The definition of a poke is a push or a prod.

(noun)

An example of poke is the act of gently sticking a pen into a person's shoulder to get his attention.

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See poke in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb poked, poking

    1. to push or jab with a stick, finger, etc.; prod
    2. Slang to hit with the fist
  1. to make by poking: to poke a hole in a bag
  2. to stir up (a fire) by jabbing the coals with a poker
  3. to thrust (something) forward; intrude: to poke one's head out a window

Origin: ME poken < MDu or LowG

intransitive verb

  1. to make jabs with a stick, poker, etc. (at something)
  2. to intrude; meddle
  3. to pry or search: sometimes with about or around
  4. to stick out; protrude
  5. to live or move slowly or lazily; loiter; putter; dawdle: often with along

noun

    1. the act of poking; jab; thrust; nudge
    2. Slang a blow with the fist
  1. slowpoke
  2. a poke bonnet, or its projecting front brim

noun

  1. Dialectal a sack or bag
  2. Archaic a pocket
  3. Slang
    1. a wallet or purse
    2. money, esp. all that one has

Origin: OFr poke, poque < Frank *pokka < IE base *beu-, to blow up, swell > puck

noun

pokeweed

Origin: earlier pocan < AmInd (Virginian) puccoon, weed used for staining

See poke in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb poked poked, pok·ing, pokes
verb, transitive
  1. To push or jab at, as with a finger or an arm; prod.
  2. To make (a hole or pathway, for example) by or as if by prodding, elbowing, or jabbing: I poked my way to the front of the crowd.
  3. To push; thrust: A seal poked its head out of the water.
  4. To stir (a fire) by prodding the wood or coal with a poker or stick.
  5. Slang To strike; punch.
verb, intransitive
  1. To make thrusts or jabs, as with a stick or poker.
  2. To pry or meddle; intrude: poking into another's business.
  3. To search or look curiously in a desultory manner: poked about in the desk.
  4. To proceed in a slow or lazy manner; putter: just poked along all morning.
  5. To thrust forward; appear: The child's head poked from under the blankets.
noun
  1. A push, thrust, or jab.
  2. Slang A punch or blow with the fist: a poke in the jaw.
  3. One who moves slowly or aimlessly; a dawdler.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English poken

Origin: , probably from Middle Low German

Origin: or Middle Dutch

.

noun
  1. A projecting brim at the front of a bonnet.
  2. A large bonnet having a projecting brim.

Origin:

Origin: From poke1

.

noun
Chiefly Southern U.S.
A sack; a bag.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , probably from Old North French; see pocket

.

Regional Note: A pig in a poke is concealed in a sack from the buyer. The noun poke—meaning a bag or sack—dates from the 14th century in English. In many parts of Scotland poke means a little paper bag for carrying purchases or a cone-shaped piece of paper for an ice-cream cone. The Oxford English Dictionary gives similar forms in other languages: Icelandic poki, Gaelic poc or poca, and French poche.

noun
Pokeweed.

Origin:

Origin: Short for dialectal pocan

Origin: , of Virginia Algonquian origin

Origin: ; akin to puccoon

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