stoke

name

Etymology: From Old English stoc (“place”).

1. Ellipsis of Stoke-on-Trent, a city in Staffordshire, England.

   “The main line of the L.N.W.R. passed to the west of the Potteries, and it is recorded that in August, 1846, two trains were run from Whitmore (the nearest station to Stoke) to Liverpool for the benefit of excursionists.”

2. A former civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, now merged into Stoke and Hurleston civil parish.
3. A village on Hayling Island, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU7102).
4. A village and civil parish in Medway borough, Kent, England; the parish includes Lower Stoke and Middle Stoke (OS grid ref TQ8275).
5. An eastern suburb of Coventry, West Midlands, England (there are a few places in Coventry with other affixes of Stoke) (OS grid ref SP3679).
6. A civil parish in Bromsgrove district, Worcestershire, England.
7. An outer suburb of Nelson, New Zealand, not far from Richmond, named after Stoke-by-Nayland in England.

noun

1. Misconstruction of stokes, a unit of kinematic viscosity.

verb

Etymology: From a back-formation of stoker, apparently from Dutch stoker, from stoken (“to kindle a fire, incite, instigate”), from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from stock (“stick, stock”), see: tandenstoker. Ultimately the same word as above.

1. To feed, stir up, especially, a fire or furnace.
2. To encourage a behavior or emotion.

   “Stoking the star maker machinery behind the popular song”

   “To stoke motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead.”

3. To attend to or supply a furnace with fuel; to act as a stoker or fireman.