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PlainSpell

poke

/poʊk/verb, noun

poke is spelled P-O-K-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, poke means “To prod or jab with an object such as a finger or a stick” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in poke?

Letters4: P-O-K-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.0 times per million words; the 12,940th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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 poke?

Poke appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th 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 poke?

  • UK /pəʊk/
  • US /poʊk/

As a noun (“Slices or cubes of raw fish or other raw seafood, mixed…”): /ˈpoʊkeɪ/, /ˈpoʊki/, /pəʊk/.

Poke 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: En-au-poke.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poke.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with poke?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as poke from its last stressed vowel (/oʊk/):

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 poke

  • pokes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • poking participle, present
  • poked participle, past
  • poké

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does poke mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To prod or jab with an object such as a finger or a stick.

  2. 2

    To stir up a fire to remove ash or promote burning.

  3. 3

    To rummage; to feel or grope around.

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

  4. 4

    datedTo modify the value stored in (a memory address).

  5. 5

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

    to poke an ox

  6. 6

    To thrust at with the horns; to gore.

  7. 7

    informalTo notify (another user) of activity on social media or an instant messenger.

  8. 8

    To thrust (something) in a particular direction such as the tongue.

noun

  1. 1

    A prod, jab, or thrust.

  2. 2

    USslangA lazy person; a dawdler.

  3. 3

    USslangA stupid or uninteresting person.

  4. 4

    An old, worn-out horse.

  5. 5

    USA device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward.

  6. 6

    datedThe storage of a value in a memory address, typically to modify the behaviour of a program or to cheat at a video game.

  7. 7

    informalA notification sent to get another user's attention on social media or an instant messenger.

  8. 8

    A poke bonnet.

  9. 9

    A sack or bag, especially a paper bag.

    poke of reefer

  10. 10

    A long, wide sleeve.

  11. 11

    ScotlandAn ice cream cone.

  12. 12

    ScotlandA bag of chips.

  13. 13

    Pokeweed, and its berries.

  14. 14

    Slices or cubes of raw fish or other raw seafood, mixed with sesame oil, seaweed, sea salt, herbs, spices, or other flavorful ingredients.

noun

as poké
  1. 1

    Alternative form of poke (“cubed raw fish, marinated and seasoned”).

  2. 2

    Ellipsis of poké salad.

noun

as Poke
  1. 1

    colloquialA Pokémon.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Poke in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpiquer (to jab with an object such as a finger or a…), attiser (to stir up a fire to remove ash or promote…)
Germanstochern, anstupsen (to jab with an object such as a finger or a…), schüren (to stir up a fire to remove ash or promote…), poken (computing: to modify the value stored in a…), Sack (sack or bag)
Portuguesecutucar (to jab with an object such as a finger or a…), atiçar (to stir up a fire to remove ash or promote…), poke (Hawaiian sea food dish)
Spanishhurgar, hincar (to jab with an object such as a finger or a…), atizar (to stir up a fire to remove ash or promote…), piquete (a prod, jab, or thrust)

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 poke come from?

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. Compare Nordic cognates Swedish påka (“to poke, muck with a stick”), påk (“club, limb; dagger”), pykel (“small poker”), dialectal Norwegian pauka (“to walk stomping, etc”), pauk (“weak, slow person”). Central European noun-cognates refer to “dagger, bad knife, poker (for a fireplace)”, with analog verbs.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after poke