poke

Etymology 1

From Middle English poken, perhaps from Middle Dutch poken or Middle Low German poken (both from Proto-Germanic *puk-), which is probably imitative.

verb

1. To prod or jab with an object such as a finger or a stick.
   Ward showed good pace to beat the advancing Reina to the ball and poke a low finish into the corner. December 29, 2010, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC
2. To stir up a fire to remove ash or promote burning.
3. (figurative) To rummage; to feel or grope around.
   I poked about in the rubble, trying to find my lost keys.
4. (transitive, computing, dated) To modify the value stored in (a memory address).
   Coordinate term: peek
   The 200 UDGs may be used either by paging between 10 sets of 20 UDGs or, alternatively, by displaying 96 different characters by poking the system variable CHARS with 256 less than the starting address of your graphics. July 1984, Franco Frey, “SPECGRAFFITI”, in Crash, number 6
   If you try to poke a value outside this range into a byte, Basic will beep you with an ILLEGAL QUANTITY error. 1985, Tom Weishaar, Bert Kersey, The DOStalk Scrapbook, page 44
5. (transitive) To put a poke (device to prevent leaping or breaking fences) on (an animal).
   I find from their testimony , which was not contradicted , that the placing of such a poke upon such a colt in such a pasture is not considered dangerous, and that farmers are accustomed so to poke their own horses, but that they are not accustomed to put pokes on or 'hamper' horses owned by other persons without the authorization of the owner. 1883, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Vermont, page 70
   to poke an ox
6. (transitive) To thrust at with the horns; to gore.
7. (transitive, informal, social media) To notify (another user) of activity on social media or an instant messenger.
   Indeed, when we poke users who normally do not have access to our profiles, they will be able to temporarily see our Basic Info, Work Info, and Education Info. 2009, Alexander Tokar, Metaphors of the Web 2.0, Peter Lang, page 68
8. (transitive) To thrust (something) in a particular direction such as the tongue.
9. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To penetrate in sexual intercourse.
   Maj. Cloutier commented to Lt. Clemm, "You know what they say about a girl who smokes: If she smokes, she pokes." 1996 November 25, Washington Times quoted in The Dictionary of Modern Proverbshttps://books.google.com/books?id=LPZfi4ADcusC&pg=PA235
   He chewed her nipples and clitoris until they bled, and poked her until she could hardly walk. Grandpa never got enough sex […] 2000, Katherine Jones, Jerry's Nightmare, page 115
   No big deal. I poked Ana a bunch of times. 2001, Y tu mamá también [And Your Mother Too], spoken by Julio Zapata

noun

1. A prod, jab, or thrust.
2. (US, slang) A lazy person; a dawdler.
   The slowness of this stupid poke tortures me to death. 1865, Adolphe Belot ·, The Cup and the Lip. A Comedy in Five Acts., page 38
   To the uninitiated he looked like a slow old poke; but his string would lengthen out in a most mysterious way , and it was the height of our ambition to set as much and as clean a proof as old John. 1905, Typographical Journal - Volume 27, page 186
   I never saw such an old poke. You come up here and expect me to do some things for you, and then you stand around as though you were made of bone! 2015, Theodore Dreiser, Twelve Men: Top American Novels
   The three laugh at him for a slow old poke and go on to their pleasure. 2019, Paolo Cherchi Usai, The Griffith Project, Volume 9: Films Produced in 1916-18
   Old Fred is the slowest old poke, isn't he? Suppose I try, Paul. 2021, Booth Tarkington, Women
3. (US, slang) A stupid or uninteresting person.
   I see you shaking your head at me, mother, and reminding me of 'That mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me;' but I don't believe I go on so; if I have nothing to say I keep still, and you'd better be a stupid poke, which I often feel myself, than waste the time with such trash. 1871, Mary Webster McClain, Daisy Ward's Work, page 112
   She was only sixteen, and he was perfectly splendid, and she has plenty of money, and every one talked about it; and when she went anywhere, people looked, you know, and she liked it; but her papa is an old poke, so he's sent them all away. It's too bad, for she was the jolliest thing I ever knew . 1912, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-fashioned Girl, page 20
   I think you are all reasonably well aware that the common picture of the surveying and mapping profession is proabably best exemplified at the present time by the old poke who is out with a rickety old transit, wearing old ragged clothes. 1956, “Professional Status of Surveyors and Mappers”, in Surveying and Mapping, volume 16, page 184
   "Oh, you old poke, you! You think nobody can be grown up but yourself. I really believe they all think I'm a great deal older than I am, and I just hope you won't go and tell them I am not. "Now, will you?" 1968, Joseph Kirkland, The Captain of Company K, page 237
   “That's what you're going to rob?” she asked Cole. “Yep.” He viewed the scene with a hand shading his eyes, then grinned at Billy. “Only a driver and one old poke riding shotgun. You'd think they'd have learned better by now." 2014, Eugenia Riley, Bushwhacked Bride
4. An old, worn-out horse.
   It was feared the dear old poke I had been riding could not keep up with the rest on this long day's journey: so I had "the cook's horse," who did not understand my method of pulling my dear old beast's head from the edge of the ravine gently with my bridle. 1872, Edward Everett Hale, Old and New - Volume 6, page 686
   Probably summer residents, and this old poke won't move out of a walk, and I've no whip. 1889, Clara Louise Burnham, Young Maids and Old, page 89
   Yes, mother, but my horse is such an old poke I was nowhere in the race. 2019, Frederic Remington, John Ermine of the Yellowstone
   It's not the helo's fault, even if it is clunkier than a stumblebum old poke of a plow horse—bless its rotors. 2019, M. L. Buchman, At the Slightest Sound
5. (US) A device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward.
   I find from their testimony , which was not contradicted , that the placing of such a poke upon such a colt in such a pasture is not considered dangerous, and that farmers are accustomed so to poke their own horses, but that they are not accustomed to put pokes on or 'hamper' horses owned by other persons without the authorization of the owner. 1883, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Vermont, page 70
   This yoke or poke will prevent any horse from scaling a fence, if well made. 1883, Horace R. Allen, The American Farm and Home Cyclopedia, page 285
6. (computing, dated) The storage of a value in a memory address, typically to modify the behaviour of a program or to cheat at a video game.
   […] everywhere you see listings festooned with Goto statements and peppered with peeks and pokes. 1984, Electronics & Wireless World, volume 90, page 6
   One of the major limitations is that the Commodore 64 does not easily support auto-repeat (it must be turned on by a poke instruction from BASIC). 1984, Northcon/84, Mini/Micro Northwest-84 Conference Record
   Perhaps all those super hackers who so regularly produce infinite lives etc. could produce pokes to be used by 128K users. July 1988, Lloyd Mangram, “Forum”, in Crash, number 54
7. (informal, social media) A notification sent to get another user's attention on social media or an instant messenger.
   It could be described as a poke, but not a friendly one. For those who have not yet succumbed to Facebook, the latest craze on the internet, a ‘poke’ is an electronic greeting sent, for example, to an old friend from university. 2007-07-22, David Smith, “Faceoff!”, in The Guardian
8. A poke bonnet.
   Well then, I declare, I'd rather see Miss Lawton in that old poke – old as it is! –than in the finest new bonnet the Squire's lady ever wore. 1857, William Platt, Mothers and sons, page 190
9. (baseball, slang) A hit, especially an extra base hit.

Etymology 2

From Middle English poke, from Anglo-Norman poke (whence pocket), from Frankish *poka. More at pocket.

noun

1. (now regional) A sack or bag.
   When the Pig is proffered, hold vp the poke. 1605, William Camden, Remaines Concerning Brittaine, 1629 edition, Proverbes, page 276
   And suddainly vntyes the Poke, Which out of it sent such a smoke, As ready was them all to choke, So greeuous was the pother […] 1627, Michael Drayton, Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, 1907 edition, poem Nimphidia
   … and as to shape, a nightmare has as much. Under the poke and the muff-box, the face sometimes entirely disappears … 1814, September 4, The Examiner, volume 13, number 349, article French Fashions, page 573
   She did not eat blood-oranges. Her maw gived her one in a poke and she was going to throw it in the bin, Oh it is all black. 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 138
2. A long, wide sleeve.
3. (Scotland, Northern Ireland) An ice cream cone.

Etymology 3

Clipping of pocan (“pokeweed”) or directly borrowed from Powhatan pocan. See pocan for more.

noun

1. (dialectal) Pokeweed.

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Hawaiian poke (literally “to cut crosswise into pieces”).

noun

1. (Hawaii) Slices or cubes of raw fish or other raw seafood, mixed with sesame oil, seaweed, sea salt, herbs, spices, or other flavorful ingredients.
   Though I'd often eaten sashimi, poke was then completely new to me—delicious rubies of cubed fish dressed in light sesame oil, garnished with minced bits of reddish-brown seaweed and the ground centers of kukui nuts (see recipe, next page). 2004-10-17, Garrett Hongo, “Poke”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   The fishmonger offered the poke in plastic tubs, without ceremony, just as I had always known it in Honolulu, where I grew up and where some of the best poke is sold at a liquor store, Tamura’s. Then, a few years back, poke started appearing on stray restaurant menus, sometimes identified as Hawaiian crudo or ceviche. 2016-02-04, Ligaya Mishan, “Poke Reaches the Shores of Manhattan”, in The New York Times, →ISSN