poke

name

1. A surname.

noun

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

1. 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).”

   “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.”

verb

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.

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.”

2. To stir up a fire to remove ash or promote burning.
3. To rummage; to feel or grope around.

   “I poked about in the rubble, trying to find my lost keys.”

4. To modify the value stored in (a memory address).

   “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.”

   “If you try to poke a value outside this range into a byte, Basic will beep you with an ILLEGAL QUANTITY error.”

5. To put a poke (device to prevent leaping or breaking fences) on (an animal).

   “to poke an ox”

   “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.”

6. To thrust at with the horns; to gore.
7. 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.”

8. To thrust (something) in a particular direction such as the tongue.
9. 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."”

   “He chewed her nipples and clitoris until they bled, and poked her until she could hardly walk. Grandpa never got enough sex […]”