poach
/ˈpoʊt͡ʃ/verb, noun
poach is spelled P-O-A-C-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,680th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, poach means “To cook (something) in simmering or very hot liquid (usually water; sometimes wine, broth, or otherwise)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in poach?
| Letters | 5: P-O-A-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,680th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is poach?
Poach appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,680th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce poach?
- /ˈpoʊt͡ʃ/
Poach has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poach.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with poach?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as poach.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: phoca, phaco.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of poach
- poaches present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- poaching participle, present
- poached participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does poach mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To cook (something) in simmering or very hot liquid (usually water; sometimes wine, broth, or otherwise).
- 2
To be cooked in such manner.
- 3
To trespass on another's property to take fish or game.
- 4
To take game or fish illegally.
- 5
To take anything illegally or unfairly.
- 6
To intrude; to interfere; to get involved inappropriately, without welcome.
to poach in foreign academic disciplines
- 7
To entice (an employee or customer) to switch from a competing company to one's own.
- 8
To make soft or muddy by trampling.
Cattle coming to drink had punched and poached the river bank into a mess of mud.
- 9
To become soft or muddy by being trampled on.
- 10
obsoleteTo stab; to pierce; to spear or drive or plunge into something.
noun
- 1
The act of cooking in simmering liquid.
- 2
The act of taking something unfairly, as in tennis doubles where one player returns a shot that their partner was better placed to return.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Poach in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pocher , braconner , débaucher, détourner |
| German | pochieren , wildern , abwerben , klauen, stehlen |
| Portuguese | escalfar , caçar/pescar furtivamente |
| Spanish | escalfar, pochar , recolectar furtivamente, talar furtivamente , pocharse, escalfarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does poach come from?
From Middle English pochen (“to poach (eggs)”), from Old French pocher "to put (egg yolks) in pockets" (i.e. in bags formed by the whites), from Old French poche (“pocket”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).