- [countable, usually singular] the action of quickly pushing your fingers or another object into somebody/something
- to give the fire a poke
- He gave me a poke in the ribs to wake me up.
- When I mentioned the money I got a poke in the back.
- Carrie gave him a poke in the side.
- [uncountable] (British English) power in a car
- I prefer something with a bit more poke.
Word OriginMiddle English: origin uncertain; compare with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German poken, of unknown ultimate origin. The noun dates from the late 18th cent.
Idioms
See poke in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryhave a poke around
- (informal) to look carefully around a place to see what you can find; to try to find out information about somebody/something
- His mother often goes into his room and has a good old poke around.
(buy) a pig in a poke
- if you buy a pig in a poke, you buy something without seeing it or knowing if it is good enough
- Buying online can mean buying a pig in a poke.
take a poke at somebody/something
- (North American English, old-fashioned, informal) to make an unkind remark about somebody/something; to laugh at somebody/something
Check pronunciation:
poke