poke Synonyms
Another word for poke
• verb (Context 1)
To jab, prod, or push someone or something with a finger, stick, or other pointed object.
"He used a long iron rod to prod the glowing embers in the fireplace."
• noun (Context 2)
A quick jab, prod, or thrust made with a finger or a pointed object.
"She gave her sleeping brother a gentle prod in the ribs to wake him up before the train arrived."
• verb (Context 3)
To protrude, extend, or stick out from a surface or confining space.
"The first green shoots of the crocuses began to stick out through the melting snow."
• verb (Context 4)
To make a hole or perforation in something by jabbing or thrusting.
"Be sure to pierce a few small holes in the lid of the container so steam can escape."
• verb (Context 5)
To search, pry, or rummage around casually or inquisitively.
"We spent a rainy afternoon poking around the antique shops in the historic district."
• noun (Context 6)
A tall perennial herbaceous plant (Phytolacca americana) native to North America, having reddish stems, clusters of dark purple berries, and toxic mature roots and leaves; pokeweed.
"Tall stalks of wild pokeweed grew along the sunny edges of the rural pasture."
• noun (Context 7)
A small bag, sack, or pouch, now used chiefly in regional dialects or in the idiom 'a pig in a poke'.
"The old proverb warns against buying a pig in a sack without inspecting the goods first."
• noun (Context 8)
The tender young shoots and leaves of the pokeweed plant, cooked thoroughly by boiling in multiple changes of water and eaten as a traditional spring green in the southern United States.
"Her grandmother knew how to parboil young poke sallet several times in spring to prepare a safe, traditional dish of greens."
Opposites of poke
The opposite of poke shifts depending on context. Common opposites include: