▪ I. poke, n.1 Now chiefly dial.
(pəʊk)
Forms: α. (3) 4– poke; also 5–7 pooke, 6–7 (9 dial.) poake, 7– poak; Sc. 5 poyke, 5–6 poik, 6 polk. β. Sc. and north. dial. 5 pok, 5–6 pokke, 7 pocke, 8–9 pock. (9 dial. puok, puock, pooak, pwok(e, pwoak; also pook, pouk, powk: Eng. Dial. Dict.)
[Not in OE.: ME. poke from 14th c., represented 1276 by Anglo-L. poka (unam pokam lanę), agrees in form with ONF. poque (12th c.), poke (14th c. in Godef.) = F. poche; also Icel. poki (13th c.), early mod.Flem. poke (Kilian); also Ir. poc, Gael. poca bag; the affinities of which are uncertain, as is the question of their relationship to OE. pohha, ME. powhe, pouhȝ, pough, bag (for which Lindisf. Gl. has also pocca). The later Eng. spellings pook, poak imply lengthened o, as do also the Sc. poik, polk. A form with short o (pok(k, pock) is found in Sc. and north. Eng. from 15th c., but this is not (ɒ), but (o), a vowel which, like that of Sc. puock and north. Eng. pwoke, pwooak, represents ME. ō from o in an open syllable. The mod.Sc. pouk, north. Eng. pook, with (u, uː), may correspond to NF. dial. pouque beside poque. The phonology offers difficulties both in Eng. and Fr.: cf. pouch.]
1. a. A bag; a small sack: applied to a bag of any material or description, but usually smaller than a sack. Now dial. exc. in to buy a pig in a poke (pig n.1), in Sc. a cat in a poke, F. chat en poche.
In Sc. applied to the bags or wallets in which a gaberlunzie or beggar carried provisions and portable property.
| α 1276 Rot. Hundred. (1812) I. 398/2 Quidam judei Lincolnie..furebantur unam pokam lane. c 1300 Havelok 780 Hise pokes fulle of mele an korn. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 358 Þan shulde pees be in þe chirche wiþouten strif of doggis in a poke. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 358 They walwe as doon two pigges in a poke. 1411 Nottingham Rec. II. 86, j. poke cum salt, vd. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 407/1 Pooke (or poket, or walette), sacculus. 1488 Inv. R. Wardr. (1815) 12 In a canves poik within the said box tuelf hundreth & sevin angel nobilis. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 147 Ȝe gang With polkis to mylne, and beggis baith meill and schilling. c 1530–1860 [see pig n.1 11 a, b]. 1558 in Lanc. Wills (1884) 20 Two secks and two lesse pookes. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 51 A gathering Apron like a Poake. 1648–60 Hexham, Koren-sack, a Corne-sack, or a corne-pooke. 1723 Swift New Year's Gift 17 A pair of leathern pokes [rime folks]. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xiii, The hare-brained goose saw the pokes. 1875 Brighton Daily News 10 Mar. 2/5 Bringing a poke of bran down a step-ladder. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xix. (1884) 141 The eel-net is set across the dyke to catch them in its long ‘poke’. 1883 J. Y. Stratton Hops & Hop-pickers 34 From the bin the hops are carried in ‘pokes’ to the ‘oast-house’. 1902 Berea (Kentucky) Quarterly Nov. 17 It usually comes in two-pound paper packages, or ‘pokes’. 1910 R. W. Service Trail of '98 347 The girl will pry him loose from his poke. 1922 G. C. F. Pringle Tillicums of Trail 250 It wasn't safe to come out by way of Skagway with your gold,..you were likely to be relieved of your ‘poke’ by desperados. 1935 A. J. Cronin Stars look Down i. ix. 68 He had pie, too, in his poke. 1948 C. W. Holliday Valley of Youth 144 A miner might come into a store for provisions with no money, but a little poke of gold dust. 1966 Indians, Eskimos, & Aleuts of Alaska (U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs) 12 (caption) These villagers are carrying a sealskin ‘poke’ filled with seal oil. 1976 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 15 Aug. 12/2 Nearby lay an empty buckskin ‘poke’ such as early miners favored for their gold dust. 1978 Guardian 14 Aug. 7/2 You may also find yourself at a temporary disadvantage if, after buying several items from a shop, the young lady assistant asks if you would ‘like a poke’. |
| β 1447 in Dundee Charters (1880) 24 b, And of al vthir thinges pok, pak, and barel proporcionablie. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. ii. (Town & C. Mouse) xv, Pokkis [v.r. sekkis] full of grots. 1599 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 243 Item iij sakes, iij pokkes. 1625 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 296 Given for a pocke of coles, 2d. 1733 in Ramsay's Tea-t. Misc. I. 29 Ye shall hae twa good pocks. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xi, The pock of siller. |
b. A bag holding a definite quantity, varying according to the nature of the commodity, as wool, coal, meal, hops; used as a measure of capacity.
(It is not clear whether the early quots. belong here.)
| 1347–8 Rolls of Parlt. II. 215/2, xi pokes de madder. 15.. Aberdeen Regr. XVI. (Jam.), Polk of wool. 1855 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 1125/3 Poke, of wool, 20 cwts. |
c. A pocket worn on the person. Obs. or arch.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 20 Then he drew a diall from his poake. 1675 Cocker Morals 6 All are but Smoke To him that has no mony in his Poke. 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. iii. (1709) 16 With his Pockes as empty as his Brains. 1880 Webb Goethe's Faust iii. x. 183 Apart from this I've nothing in my poke. |
d. A purse or wallet; a pocketbook. N. Amer. slang.
| 1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 68 Poke, a pocket; a purse. 1883 Echo 25 Jan. 2/3 The poke, which a pick⁓pocket glories in having appropriated, is the Saxon bag or purse. 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 18 Poke of leather, a pocketbook. 1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 211 Poke, a leather wallet. 1939 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 50 There I was with only about $85 in my poke. 1953 ‘W. Burroughs’ Junkie iv. 48 He took a crumpled mass of bills from his pocket and counted out eight dollars... ‘Had it in his pants pocket. I couldn't find a poke.’ 1976 ‘Trevanian’ Main (1977) vi. 123, I notice his wallet's half out of his pocket{ddd}it comes to me that I might as well lift his poke... So I reach over and pull it out. |
e. A roll of bank-notes; money. slang.
| 1926 J. Black You can't Win xiv. 190 My hand was on the big fat ‘poke’. 1933 E. Seago Circus Company 295 Poke, money. 1965 L. J. Cunliffe Having it Away iv. 38 It's a very satisfying feeling knowing you can put your finger on a bit of poke. (Which is more slang for money: get it, poke, loot, poppy—any of them will do!) 1974 Evening News (Edinburgh) 8 Oct. 3/2 Colgan asked him: ‘Have you got your poke?’ obviously referring to the money. |
2. A bag or bladder filled with air, used by fishermen as a buoy. U.S.
| 1887 Fisheries U.S. Sect. v. II. 270 When the ‘pokes’ are used, the officer gives the order to ‘Blow up! Blow up!’ and a man with sound lungs grasps one of these membranous pouches and inflates it... It is then attached to the whale. |
† 3. A long wide or full sleeve. Obs.
| 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 69 The pokes of purchace hangen to the erthe. 1432–50 tr. Higden, Harl. Contin. (Rolls) VIII. 514 Grete insolence of vesture..gownes with longe pokus, made in the maner of a bagpype. [1706 Phillips s.v., Pokes were also a sort of long-sleev'd Gowns, which Fashion grew so affected and extravagant, that the wearing of them was forbidden.] |
† 4. A kind of net, a bag-net. Obs.
| 1579 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 147/1 That destroyis the smoltis and fry of salmond..be polkis, creillis, trammel⁓nettis, and hery watteris. |
5. A morbid bag-like swelling on the neck. † a. In man, The goitre, also called Bavarian poke.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. ii. i. (1676) 42/2 Aubanus Bohemus referrs that Struma, or Poke of the Bavarians and Styrians to the nature of their waters. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. 143 We saw..many men and women with large swellings under their chins..called..by some in English, Bavarian Pokes. |
b. In sheep, A bag growing under the jaws, symptomatic of the rot; hence, the disease itself.
| 1798 Statist. Acc. Scot. XX. 469 Seldom subject to that disease called by sheep-farmers the poke, (a swelling under the jaw), or to the scab... The poke, particularly, often proves fatal. 1878 Cumberland Gloss. 76/1 Sheep tainted with rot often exhibit the symptom of a poke or bag under the jaws. |
6. The stomach of a fish. colloq. or dial. Also, the sound or air-bladder of a fish (Cent. Dict.).
| 1773 Barrington in Phil. Trans. LXIV. 117 Mr. Hunter opened a charr..and found the poke, as our fishmongers call it, very different. 1897 W. Kingston in Daily News 10 Sept. 2/1, I once saw a gold ring taken out of a cod's poke. |
7. attrib. and Comb.: poke-bag (dial.), the Long-tailed Titmouse (Acredula rosea); poke-boy (see quot.); poke-cheeked a., having baggy cheeks; poke-hooked a. (see quots.); poke-horse, a pack-horse carrying loads in two pokes or bags; poke- (pock-) net (see quot. 1805); poke- (pock-) nook, one of the corners at the bottom of a bag or sack; one's own poke-nook, one's own means, one's private resources; poke- (pock-) shakings, the last portions of meal, etc., shaken out of a sack; fig. the smallest of a litter of pigs; the youngest child in a family; † poke-sleeve, a deep and broad sleeve: see sense 3. Also poke-pudding.
| 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 32 The penduline form of the nest, and the feathers which compose the lining, have obtained for the bird the names of..Poke pudding or *Poke bag,..Feather poke. |
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 753 (Hops) Another person will be requisite in the hop-plantation, in order to pick up the scattered branches of the binds, and convey the produce to the kiln. A boy is in general employed in this business, who, from the nature of his work, is commonly called the *poke boy. |
| 1843 Carlyle in Froude Life in Lond. (1884) 320 A long, soft, *poke-cheeked face, with busy, anxious black eyes. |
| 1883 Century Mag. XXV. 902/1 Many..fish..are caught, not by the hook entering the jaws of the fish, but because it is fastened in their stomach,..a fish so captured is called ‘*poke-hooked’. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. iii, Help us here, Harve. It's a big un. Poke-hooked, too... He had taken the bait right into his stomach. |
| 1669 in Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., Bring all the *Poke-horses that trespasse upon the ffell into the comon pinefold. |
| 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. (1806) III. 389 Drag-nets, or *pock-nets, that is, nets in form of a bag, are often used. 1845 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIV. 165 Catching fresh water fish with a kind of pock-net. |
| 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 661 Bot menstrallis, serving man, and maid, Gat Mitchell in ane auld *pocke nucke. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xiv. (1850) 57 It was thought that it [the cost] would have to come out of their own pock-nook. 1844 Ballantine Miller of Deanhaugh i. 18 Your mouter fills mony a pock nook. |
| 1808 Jamieson, *Pock-shakings.., a vulgar term, used to denote the youngest child of a family... It often implies the idea of something puny in appearance. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 700 The small weak pigs are usually nicknamed wrigs, or pock shakings. |
| 1592 Stow Ann. 519 Gownes with deepe and broade sleeues, commonly called *poke sleeues. 1714 Spectator No. 619 ¶9 My learned Correspondent who writes against Master's Gowns and Poke Sleeves. |
▪ II. poke, n.2
[app. either an application of prec. (from its shape or appearance), or (as more generally held) from poke v.1 (from its poking out or projecting). Actual evidence is wanting.]
1. A projecting brim or front of a woman's bonnet or hat.
(The meaning in quot. 1770 is not clear: cf. 1815 in sense 2.)
| 1770 Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 28 Dec., The headdress..must be black, that is to say the poke and the lappits, but upon the head you are permitted to wear the ribbon of the colour of your robe. 1813 Lady Burghersh Lett. (1893) 61 An immense quilling of lace or ribbon round the poke. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede l, The close poke of her little black bonnet hid her face from him. |
b. Applied to a ‘sun-shade’ or ‘ugly’, i.e. a detachable brim affixed to a bonnet to shade the wearer's face.
| 1859 Sala Gaslight & D. xxix. 341 Ladies..with blue pokes to their bonnets. |
2. Short for poke-bonnet. (In quot. 1815, perh. a woman's muslin cap, formerly worn.)
| 1815 Lady Granville Let. 5 Sept., Miss Smith in a little crushed muslin poke. a 1845 Hood Literary & Literal xi, They came—each ‘Pig-faced Lady’, in that bonnet We call a poke. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. iii. xxiv, A grey frieze livery and a straw poke, such as my aunt's charity children wear. 1896 G. M. Stisted Life Sir R. F. Burton xi. 269 [In Gt. Salt Lake City] A poke-bonnet was universally worn—why is the Poke a symbol of piety, Quakers, Salvationists, Mormons, Sisters of Mercy retiring alike inside its ungraceful shape? |
3. attrib. and Comb.: poke-brim, a projecting brim of a bonnet or hat; hence poke-brimmed a.; † poke fly-cap, app. a fly-cap (fly n.1 11) provided with a poke.
| 1892 Pall Mall G. 19 May 1/3 The ‘Mentone’ is a smart hat for the races. It is of fawn straw, with a *poke brim of moderate size lined with apple-green velvet, and a crescent-shaped back. |
| 1899 Daily News 3 June 8/3 The *poke-brimmed hat, reminiscent of the thirties, is in cream-coloured straw trimmed with tulle. |
| 1810 Splendid Follies II. 106 Her hair was..adorned with a *poke-fly cap, and long lace lappets. |
▪ III. poke, n.3
[f. poke v.1]
1. a. An act of poking; a thrust, push, nudge. In slang, A blow with the fist, esp. in phr. to take a poke at. Also colloq. phr. better than a poke in the eye (and variants), used of something minimally desirable. Also fig.
| 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. T. (ed. 3), Poke, a blow with the fist; I'll lend you a poke. 1831 Society I. 155 With a poke at the fire to make it blaze the brighter. 1848 Dickens Dombey vi, Giving her such jerks and pokes from time to time. Ibid. xvii, The Captain making a poke at the door with the knobby stick to assure himself that it was shut. 1849 Lytton Caxtons xvii. i, With a sly look..giving me a poke in the ribs. 1852 Geo. Eliot Let. 4 Dec. (1954) II. 71 ‘Then,’ he said..‘Here are those {oqq}Letters from Ireland{cqq} which I hope will be something better than a poke in the eye.’ 1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle viii. 120 ‘They got those cops here quick,’ said Burke. ‘I'd like to take a poke at a few of 'em.’ 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 55 Poke, to hit a person. Also, ‘a poke’: a blow with the fist. 1944 J. Cary Horse's Mouth xvi. 81 Anarchists who love God always fall for Spinoza because he tells them that God doesn't love them. This is just what they need. A poke in the eye. To a real anarchist, a poke in the eye is better than a bunch of flowers. It makes him see stars. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) ii. 24 She tried to get at me. I took a poke at her, and down the stairs she went. 1969 Listener 10 Apr. 478/1 What sort of salute, I wondered, amounted to a poke in the eye? On this occasion compromise was reached: it was agreed that the occasion should be marked by a second broadcast of my Salute to Stalingrad. 1974 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 July 44 An Australian way of expressing ecstasy is to say: ‘It's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick.’ 1976 N.Y. Times Mag. 10 Oct. 111/4 Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. |
b. with advbs., as poke-out, (a) an act of poking out; (b) slang, a bag of food handed to a beggar; a lunch; (c) slang (see quot. 1960); poke-round, a going round and poking into places; poke-up, an act of poking or stirring up.
| 1874 Ruskin Hortus Inclusus (1887) 3 We go into the Sacristy and have a reverent little poke out of relics. 1894 ‘J. Flynt’ in Century Mag. Mar. 713/2 He returned with a ‘poke-out’ (food given at the door). 1901 ‘L. Malet’ Sir R. Calmady vi. vii, We could ride over that..land and have a poke round for sites. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 18 Aug. 3/1 All the birds sit so close that ‘good dog Ponto’ almost has to give them a poke-up with his..nose to induce them to rise at all. 1907 J. London Road 12, I could ‘throw my feet’ with the next one when it came to ‘slamming a gate’ for a ‘poke-out’ or a ‘set-down’. 1918 H. A. Vachell Some Happenings i. 4 [He] finished what was left of a ‘poke out’ (cold food) handed to him by a good Samaritan. 1936 New Republic 15 July 289/1 Sympathetic women will often cook a meal for tramps,..and ‘lumps’ or ‘poke-outs’ are possible at any time during the day. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 399/2 Poke-out,..2 An outdoor dinner cooked over wood or charcoal; a gathering for the purpose of preparing and eating such a meal; any long hike or camping trip which includes such meals. 1964 J. L. Kornbluh Rebel Voices 407/2 Pokeout, handout. |
c. Cricket. A batting-stroke made by jabbing at the ball.
| 1853 F. Gale Public School Matches 54 Sticker gets his runs by quiet little pokes one at a time. 1896 W. J. Ford in Badminton Mag. Sept. 278 Besides..‘the draw’, there was another weapon forged for the armoury of him for whom leg-hitting was not—viz. the ‘Cambridge Poke’, so called, I believe, in contemptuous irony. 1960 J. Fingleton Four Chukkas to Australia xvi. 133 He was confusing the cut with the ‘poke’, a disastrous nibbling by so many Englishmen. |
d. An act of sexual intercourse; also, a woman with whom one has sexual intercourse, a ‘lay’; = fuck n. 1. slang.
| 1902 Farmer & Henley Slang V. 242 Poke,..an act of coition. 1958 N. Levine Canada made Me ii. 82 When I met her I only want a poke. Then she tell me a baby made. 1968 H. C. Rae Few Small Bones ii. i. 77 ‘Caroline’, said Derek..‘wouldn't make a good poke for a blind hunchback.’ 1970 L. Meynell Curious Crime xii. 160 Landladies can nearly always be paid in kind. Services in lieu of rent. A poke a night. 1977 Listener 11 Aug. 184/4 Turning a series of squalid pokes into a series of honourable combats. |
e. fig. Power, horsepower. slang.
| 1965 R. T. Bickers Hellions vi. 69 With all that extra poke under the bonnet. 1977 Drive Mar.–Apr. 54/2 The Scirocco gives a worst figure of 28 mpg, using all the poke its free-revving engine will deliver. 1979 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 1 July 3/5, I expect you'd prefer something with a bit more poke. A Ferrari say, or an Aston Martin. |
f. Computing. (Usu. written POKE.) A statement or function in BASIC for altering the contents of a memory location, having as arguments the memory address concerned and the value to be placed there. Cf. poke v.1 8 and peek n.1 2.
| 1978, etc. [see peek n.1 2]. 1982 J. S. Coan Basic Apple BASIC ii. 42 We can use POKE to change the width of the display screen. 1984 J. Campbell Programming Tips & Techniques for Apple II & IIe iii. 40 Another way that you may control the positioning of the cursor is to use the POKE instruction... There are six of these pokes available that either control the positioning of the cursor or the size of the text window. |
2. a. A contrivance fastened upon cattle, pigs, etc., to prevent them from breaking through fences: see quots.
(Supposed to refer to its action in poking the animal.)
| 1809 E. A. Kendall Travels through Northern Parts of U.S. II. 198 A hog..by some mischance had turned his poke, so that his throat was squeezed into one of the acuter angles. 1828 Webster, Poke, in New England, a machine to prevent unruly beasts from leaping fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointing forward. 1859 Holland Gold F. iv. 43 We put a poke upon a vicious cow. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Poke, a device..to prevent its [an animal's] jumping over, crawling through, or breaking down fences... They vary with the kind of stock to which they are attached,—horses, cattle, hogs, or geese. 1949 R. J. Sim Pages from Past 105 Such a rig is known as a ‘poke’. It is put on the neck of a critter with fence-jumping inclinations. 1956 W. R. Bird Off-Trail in Nova Scotia viii. 220 And here were some sheep, too, with pokes. 1969 K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader i. 67 A poke is supposed..to make it impossible for any living thing to get through even an ordinary wire fence. |
b. transf. A collar. slang.
| 1908 ‘O. Henry’ Man Higher Up in Gentle Grafter 147 With only feetwear and a dozen 15½ English pokes in his shopping bag. 1924 Truth (Sydney) 27 Apr. 6 Poke, a collar. |
3. (See quots.)
| 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Poke, a lazy person, a dawdle; as ‘what a slow poke you are!’ A woman's word. 1864 Webster, Poke,..a lazy person; a dawdler; also, a stupid or uninteresting person. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as poke-check Ice hockey, a defensive play made by poking the puck off an opposing player's stick; hence as v. intr.; poke-checking vbl. n.
| 1945 R. Fontaine Happy Time 45 Frank Nighbor, Canada's immortal poke-check genius. 1964 Maclean's Mag. 2 May 46/1 To me some of the most fascinating moves in hockey..are poke-checks, or well timed interceptions, or expeditions of forechecking. 1966 Hockey News (Montreal) 1 Jan. 13/2 He poke-checks and sweep-checks like the oldtimers. |
| 1963 A. O'Brien Headline Hockey 60 At that point the defenceman will likely resort to poke-checking. |
▪ IV. poke, n.4
Also 7 poak(e, pooke.
[Of N. American Indian origin; in sense 1, app. the same as the Virginian word cited by early travellers as uppowoc, apooke, smoke, in Narraganset puck smoke; in sense 2, app. shortened from pocan.]
† 1. Some plant smoked by the North American Indians, hence called Indian tobacco. Obs.
It has been variously conjectured to be Nicotiana rustica (see quot. 1865); Antennaria plantaginifolia (in Britton & Brown Flora Northern U.S. III. Index, called ‘Indian tobacco’, ‘Ladies' tobacco’); A. margaritifera (see quot. 1865); and Lobelia inflata, very commonly referred to as ‘Indian tobacco’.
| [1599 T. Heriot in Hakluyt Voy. III. 271 There is an herbe..called by the inhabitants uppowoc..the Spanyards call it tabacco. 1615 W. Strachey Hist. Trav. Virginia 121 There is here great store of tobacco which the salvages call apooke.] 1634 Relat. Ld. Baltimore's Plantation (Maryland) (1865) 20 After this, was brought..a great Bagg, filled with a large Tobacco-pipe and Poake, which is the word they vse for our Tobacco. 1651 R. Child in Hartlib's Legacy (1655) 155, I..have far greater hopes of the flourishing of this wild plant, than of Tobacco (either of that which in New England is called Poak, much differing from the Virginian, or of that other commonly used and sown in Virginia). 1672 J. Josselyn New Eng. Rarities 54 Tobacco,..the Indians make use of a small kind with short round leaves called Pooke. 1792 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 126 A running vine, bearing a small berry, and a round leaf, which Josselyn (who wrote in 1672) says, the fishermen called poke; it is known to the hunters by the name of Indian tobacco. 1865 Tuckerman Josselyn's N. Eng. Rarities 85 (note to quot. 1672, above) The weak tobacco, cultivated..by the Indians..was not..colt's-foot, but Nicotiana rustica L., well known to have been long in cultivation among the American savages... The name poke, or pooke,—if it be, as is supposable, the same with puck ‘smoke’ of the Narraganset vocabulary of R. Williams..was perhaps always indefinite. Ibid. 87 The species intended by Josselyn [referred to by him as ‘Live-for-ever, a kind of cud-weed’] is our everlasting... The dried herb [was] used by the fishermen instead of tobacco, and no doubt called by them poke. |
2. a. A name for American species of Phytolacca, esp. P. americana, Virginian poke, poke-berry, poke-weed. b. Indian poke, the green hellebore or poke-root, Veratrum viride.
| 1731 Catesby Carolina I. 24 They feed much on the berries of Poke, i.e. Blitum Virginianum. 1733 Miller Gard. Dict., Phytolacca;..American Nightshade,..commonly call'd Virginian Poke or Porke Physick. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 323 Virginian Poke, Phytolacca. 1770 J. R. Forster tr. Kalm's Trav. N. Amer. (1772) I. 153. 1866 Treas. Bot. 885/2 The Pocan, or Virginian Poke or Poke-weed, is a branching herbaceous plant, with a smooth green or sometimes purplish stem..with large green or purplish leaves. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. (1880) 382 Green Hellebore Root. The dried rhizome of Veratrum viride; American or Green Hellebore; called also Swamp Hellebore and Indian Poke. 1876 Bartholow Mat. Med. (1879) 455 Poke has been proposed as an emetic, but..the great depression of the powers of life which it causes..will ever prevent its employment. 1945 Chicago Tribune 13 May vii. 1/3 Opal had found the first tightly curled leaves of poke, the best known of all Ozark greens. 1977 Lewis & Elvin-Lewis Med. Bot. iv. 90/1 Poke..has long been a favorite spring potherb in the southern United States. |
3. Comb.: poke-berry, the dark purple berry of Phytolacca americana, or the plant itself; also attrib.; poke-greens, the young leaves of poke-weed used as a vegetable; poke-milkweed (see quot.); poke-root, (a) the white hellebore of N. America, Veratrum viride (2 b), also its root; (b) the root of poke-weed; poke-salad, -salat, -sallet, the young leaves of poke-weed used as a salad; poke-weed, Phytolacca (2 a).
| 1774 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 15 Oct. (1900) 269 To Day Harry boil'd up a Compound of *Poke-Berries, Vinegar, Sugar &c to make a red Ink or Liquid. 1834 W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. II. 215 His face looks like it was boiled in poke-berry juice and indigo. 1858 Mayne Expos. Lex., Poke-berries, Poke-root. 1869 Lowell Lett. (1894) II. 50 Pokeberry juice, whereof we used to make a delusive red ink when we were boys. 1899 Academy 11 Feb. 184/1 Woollen cloth was dyed crimson in the juice of the poke-berry. 1911 G. S. Porter Harvester xiii. 252 Pokeberry!.. Roots bring five cents a pound. Good blood purifier. Ibid. xv. 334 A few pokeberry plants for the colour. 1974 A. Dillard Pilgrim at Tinker Creek xiv. 249 A skin-colored sandstone ledge beside me was stained with pokeberry juice. |
| 1848 Knickerbocker XXXI. 222 The southern negro will dance after eating his *poke-greens and bacon. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling i. 12 There were poke-greens with bits of white bacon buried in them. |
| 1895 Syd. Soc. Lex., *Poke-milkweed, the Asclepias phytolaccoides, which is not unlike Poke-weed. |
| 1687 J. Clayton in Phil. Trans. XLI. 150 When they design to give a Purge, they make use of..*Poake-root, i.e. Solanum bacciferum. 1698 G. Thomas Pennsylvania (1848) 19 There grows also in great Plenty the Black Snake-Root,..Rattle-Snake-Root, Poke-Root, called in England Jallop. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 295 Proofs of the efficacy of the poke-root. |
| 1881 J. C. Harris Uncle Remus 197, I got mustard, en *poke salid, en lam's quarter in dat baskit. 1892 Poke salad [see callalloo]. 1913 H. Kephart Our Southern Highlanders xiii. 282 This poke salat eats good. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 20 May 18/3, I was introduced to poke, as poke-salat, by a Southern Maryland family. |
| 1751 Gentl. Mag. July 306/2 Tho' the Phytolacca be known to almost every one in America, by the name of *pokeweed,..yet I think it proper..to give a description of it. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 232 Poke-weed. This plant is..commonly found in all the cooler hills. 1880 New Virginians I. 53 They had stained it pink with poke-weed berries. This poke-weed is the Phytolacca—a tall, handsome plant which grows in fence corners. 1886 M. Arnold Let. 29 July (1895) II. 341 The pokeweed (Phytolacca) is, I think, American too. 1945 New England Homestead 13 Oct. 6/4 Pokeweed, huckle and blueberries, wild roses, bittersweet and hazelnut bushes are also appreciated. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 3 July 15/2 A beautiful black woman..supplied some delectable recipes (several ways to serve pokeweed, for instance). |
▪ V. poke, n.5
The small green heron of U.S.
| 1794 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 165 Green Bittern. Poke. Skouk. Ardea virescens. |
▪ VI. poke, v.1
(pəʊk)
Forms: 3– poke; (4 pok), 5 pooke, 6–7 poak. β. 5 pouke, pukke, pucke.
[ME. pōken = late MDu., Du., MLG., LG. pōken to poke, thrust; whence also OF. poquer, pocher to poke, thrust out (e.g. an eye) (Godef.). Cf. MDu. poke, Du. pook, MLG. pōk, LG. poke, a dagger, Sw. påk, a stick. These words seem to imply an OTeut. stem *puk-, *pūk-, preserved only in the LG. branch. But the history of the β forms is obscure. (Gael. puc push, jostle, Ir. poc a blow, kick, Corn. poc shove, push, are app. from Eng.)]
1. a. trans. To thrust or push (anything) with one's hand or arm, the point of a stick, or the like, usually so as to move or stir it.
| c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 249 Aleyn the clerk..He poked John and seyde slepestow. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 13849 An Aungel Pookede hym and made hym ryse. 1811 Sporting Mag. XXXVIII. 92 The bellows is used at once to blow and to poke the fire. 1828 Webster, Poke,..to thrust at with the horns, as an ox; a popular use of the word in New England. 1889 Hurst Horsham, Sussex Gloss., Doant goo into that field, may be you'll be pooked [by a bull or cow] if you do. Mod. colloq. He poked me in the ribs. |
| β 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 620 Wrathþe..pukketh [v. rr. puckeþ, poukeþ, pokeþ; A. vi. 100 puiteþ; C. viii. 263 pokeþ] forþ pruyde to prayse þi-seluen. Ibid. 643 ‘Ȝus’, quod Pieres þe plowman and pukked hem alle to gode. c 1450 Merlin 367 Bohors..come to hym..and putte the poynte of his swerde on his shelde and be-gan to pouke hym, and cleped ‘Rise vp’. |
b. Hence, to thrust or push (a thing) away, out, in, up, down; from, into (a place); etc.; to poke through, to thrust through (with a weapon).
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 12 And þan maist þou poke beter þe mot fro þi broþir. 1675 J. Smith Chr. Relig. Appeal i. 20 To poak out Leviathan, from under that shelf of prejudice. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 327 We found them [Pagods] ruin'd..and poked again in the dark hole. 1781 F. Burney Diary May, I poked the three guineas in his hand, and told him I would come again another time. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. iv. 171 When Montgomery poked out the eye of Henry II in the tilt-yard. 1865 Kingsley Herew. ix, I cannot have you poked through with a Zeeland pike. |
c. To shut up or confine in a poky place. colloq.
| 1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears ii. x, Poking himself up in such a horrid place. 1864 Mrs. J. H. Riddell G. Geith I. xiv. 266 It would break her heart,..to be poked up in a town. 1881 C. M. Yonge Lads & Lasses Langley iii. 124, I suppose she is not much of a lady, living poked up there. |
d. To make, find out, produce, stir up, by poking.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xx. 155 If also these black extremities, or presumed eyes be clipped off, they [snails] will notwithstanding make use of their protrusions or hornes, and poke out their way as before. 1823 Examiner 337/2 Like children who poke a hole in a drum to see what it is. 1884 Spectator 12 July 201/2 To poke up a great conflagration in the country. |
e. Cricket. To hit (the ball) with a jabbing stroke.
| 1836 New Sporting Mag. Oct. 360 He was very successful in poking leg stump balls for one run. 1862 J. Pycroft Cricket Tutor 45 See, he is longing to poke the ball to the on-side. 1872 Baily's Mag. Aug. 166 The Eton men hit with freedom..the same bowling that the day before..they only poked or played with tameness and hesitation. |
f. To have sexual intercourse with (a woman). slang.
| 1868 Index Expurgatorius of Martial 27 Saufeia,..though she was willing to be poked, would not enter the bath with the poet for decency's sake. c 1888–94 [see get v. 42 h]. 1962 J. Braine Life at Top ix. 129, I wanted to poke Lucy so I poked her. 1967 L. Meynell Mauve Front Door ii. 24 Your uncle was..as randy as a goat... He poked them everywhere. 1971 R. Falkirk Chill Factor xiv. 149 Are you out of your mind poking an Icelandic girl while you're on this sort of mission? 1975 N. Luard Robespierre Serial xvi. 144 They're far from sure she's the one this GI poked. |
g. To hit, strike (someone). colloq.
| 1906 Dialect Notes III. 122, I poked him on the nose. 1959 S. J. Baker Drum 136 Poke, v., to hit a person with the fist. |
h. Baseball. To hit.
| 1908 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 229/1 Sharky poked a bingle. 1951 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 399/2 Jackie Robinson poked a pitch out of the park. |
2. fig. To urge, incite, stir up, excite, irritate. Now rare or Obs.
| 13.. Cursor M. 11818 (Cott.) Þe parlesi has his a side Þat dos him fast to pok [v. r. poke] his pride. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 129 Lucifer..For prude þat hym pokede hus peyne hath no ende. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster ii. i, You must still bee poking mee, against my will, to things. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Poked, offended, piqued. ‘Aw've poked him, sare’. 1851 Lit. Gaz. 7 June 388/3 A little too fond of poking up the prejudices and peculiarities of priests and bishops. |
† 3. To crimp, form the folds in (a ruff) with a poking-stick. Also absol. Obs.
| 1592 Nobody & Someb. in Simpson Sch. Shaks. (1878) I. 318, I shall turne Laundresse now, and learne to starch And set, and poke. 1614 J. Cooke Tu Quoque in Dodsley O. Pl. (1780) VII. 19 For pride, the woman that had her ruff poak'd by the devil, is but a puritan to her. 1636 Davenant Platonic Lovers Wks. (1673) 298 And then for push o' Pike, practise to poke a Ruff. |
4. a. intr. or absol. To do the action of thrusting; to make a thrust or thrusts with a stick, the nose, etc.
| 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1880) 50 Now our Philosophical Poker pokte on, and poynted to a strange shew. 1643 Davenant Unfortunate Lovers v. i, Swords they have all..they'll serve To poke. 1784 F. Burney Diary 15 Jan., I was really obliged to go and poke at the fire with all my might. 1828 Webster s.v., To poke at, is to thrust the horns at. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. vi, I saw them..poking with a long stick in the pond. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset II. lvii. 136 He raised his umbrella and poked angrily at the..notice. 1901 Maurice Hewlett New Canterb. T., Dan Costard's T. 79 It [a babe]..poked for the nipple and found it not. |
b. Cricket. To make pokes at the ball (see poke n.3 1 c). Also const. about.
| 1851 J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 114 Mere stopping balls and poking about in the blockhole is not cricket. 1899 E. V. Lucas Open Road 146 (The Cricket Ball Sings) Perish the muff and the little tin Shrewsbury, Meanly contented to potter and poke. 1906 A. E. Knight Compl. Cricketer viii. 268 His drive is a clean honest lift straight from the shoulders; he never pokes, ‘puddling about his crease’. 1927 M. A. Noble Those ‘Ashes’ 193 His usual aggression was missing and he poked about, mistiming and apparently being unable to make a clean stroke. |
c. Of a man: to have sexual intercourse with a woman. slang.
| 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 24–30 Aug. 1417/2 Working class morality where the male never ‘pokes’ after marriage but lusts away in obscenity and dirty jokes. |
5. a. trans. To thrust forward (the finger, head, nose, etc.); esp. to thrust obtrusively.
| 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 97 One of them would have been poking a Cranes Bill down his Throat. 1783 F. Burney Diary 4 Jan., He pokes his nose more into one's face than ever. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Baby's Debut ii, He pokes her head between the bars, And melts off half her nose! 1826 Lady Granville Lett. 15 Feb., Everybody poking in their little efforts at the expiration of the Carnaval. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xi. 217 A fig-tree poking ripe fruit against a bedroom window. 1884 A. Lang in Century Mag. Jan. 324/1 The poles..are everywhere to be seen poked out of windows. |
b. to poke fun (at), to assail with jest, banter, or ridicule, esp. in a sly or indirect manner.
| 1840 Hood Up the Rhine 157 The American..in a dry way began to poke his fun at the unfortunate traveller. 1844 Thackeray B. Lyndon i, She was always ‘poking her fun’, as the Irish phrase it. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown of Oxf. xiv, The first thing you do is to poke fun at me out of your wretched classics. 1880 Dixon Windsor IV. xxxiii. 320 London wits poke fun at him. |
6. intr. a. To poke one's nose, go prying into corners or looking about one; fig. to make curious investigation.
| 1715 Prior Down-Hall 11 Hang Homer and Virgil; their meaning to seek, A man must have pok'd into Latin and Greek. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb., Acc. Author (1849) 14 He was a very inquisitive body, and when not in his room was continually poking about town. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell vi. iv, No longer imitating Pope, In that barbarian Shakespeare poking. 1850 T. A. Trollope Impress. Wanderer xvi. 255 In vain I poked among its obscure lanes. 1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge xx, Having a lawyer to poke and pry into his accounts. 1898 Eliz. & Germ. Gard. (1899) 38 She is off..to poke into every corner..and box, if necessary, any careless dairy-maid's ear. |
b. To potter; to move about or work in a desultory, ineffective, or dawdling way.
| 1796 Jane Austen Sense & Sens. ii. iii, Lord bless me! how do you think I can live poking by myself? 1839 E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 49, I dare say you think it very absurd that [I] should poke about here in the country, when I might be in London seeing my friends. 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid viii, I should enjoy poking about a bit on Dinah's back. |
7. a. trans. to poke the head, and absol. to poke; to carry the head thrust inelegantly forward; to stoop.
| 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. I. 185 ‘A quarter's dancing’ would be well bestowed on the young lady, as she certainly poked most terribly. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Poke, to stoop. ‘To poke the head’. 18.. Miss H. Shelley in Symonds Shelley ii. (1878) 45 It was not worn as a punishment, but because I poked. 1847 [see poking ppl. a. 1]. 1900 E. Glyn Visits Elizabeth (1906) 3 They both poke their heads, and Jane turns in her toes. |
b. colloq. To project obtrusively, to stick out.
| 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Poke, to project, to lean forward, to bag out. |
8. Computing. (Usu. written POKE, inflected POKEing, etc.) intr. To use POKE to store a new value in a memory location (const. into). Also trans., to put (a value) into or in a memory location; to alter (a memory location) in this way. Cf. poke n.3 1 f and peek v.1 2.
| 1978 Waite & Pardee BASIC Primer v. 164 This program will pulse the speaker 100 times by POKEing into location 102. Ibid. 166 This code POKEs the character C into memory location specified by X and Y. 1981 R. Norman Learning BASIC with your Sinclair ZX80 xxiv. 94 POKEing into the wrong places can upset the ZX80, so that you have to switch off to clear the RAM. 1981 D. Inman et al. More TRS-80 BASIC ii. 22 It is often desirable to PEEK at the value in a memory location before you POKE in a new value. 1983 [see peek v.1 2]. 1984 J. Hilton Choosing & using your Home Computer 261/1 Having to POKE locations with numbers to produce graphics is a laborious process. |
Add: [1.] i. Shooting. To aim (one's gun) at a moving target, rather than swinging and firing. (Poking is typically considered a fault.) Now freq. absol. or intr.
| 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 329/2 Do not allow him to poke his gun about and seek for his aim, or he will acquire the ‘following’ trick. 1924 E. Parker Elem. Shooting vii. 184 It is not difficult if you take the bird far enough out; you throw your gun up on what looks almost like a stationary mark, you pull the same instant (if you poke or dwell on the bird you are done), and he drops into the heather. 1946 J. W. Day Harvest Adventure iv. 54 His performances at elk and boar were no better, and he was, I believe, a ‘poking’ shot at driven birds. 1987 Shooting Mag. Mar. 43/2 If you are a quick and instinctive shot, a short-barrelled gun may be best... But it's also easier to stop your swing and ‘poke’. |
[7.] [b.] intr. For ‘to stick out’ read: ‘protrude; to stick out, up, etc.’ (Earlier and later examples.)
| 1611 [see hulch n.]. 1905 [see wig-tail s.v. wig n.3 5]. 1915 V. Woolf Voyage Out iv. 58 He was a Skye terrier, one of those long chaps, with little feet poking out from their hair. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 355 Canon O'Hanlon stood up with his cope poking up at his neck. 1951 E. Bowen Shelbourne vi. 158 Upon his flank rebel rifles came poking out through the railings of the Green. 1965 M. Bradbury Stepping Westward vii. 318 His English socks poked out beneath the too-short trouser cuffs of his American seersucker suit. 1980 B. Bainbridge Winter Garden i. 10 His awareness of flowers was..poor... The things either poked up out of the ground or lolled in vases. |
▪ VII. poke, v.2 Sc.
Also 6 polk.
[f. poke n.1]
† 1. trans. To catch fish with a poke-net (see poke n.1 4). Obs.
| 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 399 Slauchter of blak fische, polking and polting or ony uther crymes. |
2. To put in a poke or bag; to bag; to poke up, to put up in a bag or pocket.
| 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax 49 Perhaps thou hast a minde to poke vp thy dish when you likest thy meate well. a 1758 Ramsay Eagle & Robin 49 Poke up your pypes. |
▪ VIII. poke, v.3 U.S.
[f. poke n.3 2.]
trans. To put a poke on.
| 1828 Webster s.v., To poke an ox. |