Word: poke Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English poken, perhaps from Middle Dutch poken or Middle Low German poken, both from Proto-West Germanic *pukōn or similar, which is itself of uncertain origin, but may be from an imitative Proto-Germanic root *puk-. Doublet of poach. Compare Nordic cognates Swedish påka (“to poke, muck with a stick”), påk (“club, limb; dagger”), pykel (“small poker”), dialectal Norwegian pauka (“to walk stomping, etc”), pauk (“weak, slow person”). Central European noun-cognates refer to “dagger, bad knife, poker (for a fireplace)”, with analog verbs. To a Proto-Germanic *pauk-, *puk-, meanig, “to stick, muck with a stick”. Pronunciation: /pəʊk/, /poʊk/ 1. A prod, jab, or thrust. 2. A lazy person; a dawdler. Labels: US, slang Example: The slowness of this stupid poke tortures me to death. Example: 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. 3. A stupid or uninteresting person. Labels: US, slang Example: 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. Example: 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 . 4. An old, worn-out horse. Example: 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. Example: Probably summer residents, and this old poke won't move out of a walk, and I've no whip. 5. A device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward. Labels: US Example: 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. Example: This yoke or poke will prevent any horse from scaling a fence, if well made. 6. The storage of a value in a memory address, typically to modify the behaviour of a program or to cheat at a video game. Labels: dated Example: […] everywhere you see listings festooned with Goto statements and peppered with peeks and pokes. Example: 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). 7. A notification sent to get another user's attention on social media or an instant messenger. Labels: informal Example: 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. 8. A poke bonnet. Example: 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. 9. A hit, especially an extra base hit. Labels: slang