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poke

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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.

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
to make by poking: to poke a hole in a bag
to stir up (a fire) by jabbing the coals with a poker
to thrust (something) forward; intrude: to poke one's head out a window

Origin: ME poken < MDu or LowG

intransitive verb

to make jabs with a stick, poker, etc. (at something)
to intrude; meddle
to pry or search: sometimes with about or around
to stick out; protrude
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
slowpoke
a poke bonnet, or its projecting front brim

noun

Dialectal a sack or bag
Archaic a pocket
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

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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

To push or jab at, as with a finger or an arm; prod.
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.
To push; thrust: A seal poked its head out of the water.
To stir (a fire) by prodding the wood or coal with a poker or stick.
Slang To strike; punch.

verb, intransitive

To make thrusts or jabs, as with a stick or poker.
To pry or meddle; intrude: poking into another's business.
To search or look curiously in a desultory manner: poked about in the desk.
To proceed in a slow or lazy manner; putter: just poked along all morning.
To thrust forward; appear: The child's head poked from under the blankets.

noun

A push, thrust, or jab.
Slang A punch or blow with the fist: a poke in the jaw.
One who moves slowly or aimlessly; a dawdler.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English poken

Origin: , probably from Middle Low German

Origin: or Middle Dutch

noun

A projecting brim at the front of a bonnet.
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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