Poking

poke ¹  (pk)

v. poked, pok·ing, pokes

v.tr.

1. To push or jab at, as with a finger or an arm; prod.

2. To make (a hole or pathway, for example) by or as if by prodding, elbowing, or jabbing: I poked my way to the front of the crowd.

3. To push; thrust: A seal poked its head out of the water.

4. To stir (a fire) by prodding the wood or coal with a poker or stick.

5. Slang To strike; punch.

v.intr.

1. To make thrusts or jabs, as with a stick or poker.

2. To pry or meddle; intrude: poking into another's business.

3. To search or look curiously in a desultory manner: poked about in the desk.

4. To proceed in a slow or lazy manner; putter: just poked along all morning.

5. To thrust forward; appear: The child's head poked from under the blankets.

n.

1. A push, thrust, or jab.

2. Slang A punch or blow with the fist: a poke in the jaw.

3. One who moves slowly or aimlessly; a dawdler.

Idiom:

poke fun at

To ridicule in a mischievous manner; tease.

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[Middle English poken, probably from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch.]

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poke ²  (pk)

n.

1. A projecting brim at the front of a bonnet.

2. A large bonnet having a projecting brim.

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[From poke.]

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poke ³  (pk)

n. Chiefly Southern U.S.

A sack; a bag.

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[Middle English, probably from Old North French; see pocket.]

Regional Note: A pig in a poke is concealed in a sack from the buyer. The noun pokemeaning a bag or sackdates from the 14th century in English. In many parts of Scotland poke means a little paper bag for carrying purchases or a cone-shaped piece of paper for an ice-cream cone. The Oxford English Dictionary gives similar forms in other languages: Icelandic poki, Gaelic poc or poca, and French poche.

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poke ⁴  (pk)

n.

Pokeweed.

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[Short for dialectal pocan, of Virginia Algonquian origin; akin to puccoon.]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

poking - a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow); "he warned me with a jab with his finger"; "he made a thrusting motion with his fist" jab, jabbing, thrusting, poke, thrust gesture - motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling