Poke
Poke , noun
(Botany) A large North American herb of the genus Phytolacca (Phytolacca decandra), bearing dark purple juicy berries; -- called also garget, pigeon berry, pocan, and pokeweed. The root and berries have emetic and purgative properties, and are used in medicine. The young shoots are sometimes eaten as a substitute for asparagus, and the berries are said to be used in Europe to color wine.
Poke , noun
[Anglo-Saxon poca, poha, pohha; akin to Icelandic poki, OD. poke, and perh. to English pock; compare also Gael. poca, and Old French poque. Compare Pock, Pocket, Pouch.]
1.
A bag; a sack; a pocket.
He drew a dial from his poke.
They wallowed as pigs in a poke.
2.
A long, wide sleeve; -- called also poke sleeve.
Collocations (1)
To boy a pig a poke , (that is, in a bag), to buy a thing without knowledge or examination of it. — Camden
Poke , transitive verb
[Compare LG. poken to prick, pierce, thrust, pok a dagger, knife, Dutch pook, German pocken to beat, also Ir. poc a blow, Gael. puc to push.]
1.
To thrust or push against or into with anything pointed; hence, to stir up; to excite; as, to poke a fire.
He poked John, and said “Sleepest thou?”
2.
To thrust with the horns; to gore.
3.
To put a poke on; as, to poke an ox. [Colloquial United States]
Collocations (2)
To poke fun , to excite fun; to joke; to jest. [Colloquial]
To poke fun at , to make a butt of; to ridicule. [Colloquial]
Poke , intransitive verb
To search; to feel one's way, as in the dark; to grope; as, to poke about.
A man must have poked into Latin and Greek.
Poke , noun
1.
The act of poking; a thrust; a jog; as, a poke in the ribs. — Ld. Lytton
2.
A lazy person; a dawdler; also, a stupid or uninteresting person. [Slang, United States] — Bartlett
3.
A contrivance to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences. It consists of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward. [United States]
Collocations (1)
Poke bonnet , a bonnet with a straight, projecting front.