stoke

/stəʊk/

//stəʊk// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"stoke" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stoke” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,775. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,775
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To poke, pierce, thrust.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stoke · stoke · English

stoke · rank #10,775 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,775
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sutton

Nearest frequency peer: Sutton (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “stoke”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “stoke” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

stoke vs stop
60% similar
stoke vs stow
60% similar
stoke vs story
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for stoke
PropertyValue
Headwordstoke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/stəʊk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#10,775
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stoke”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).stokelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Sutton” (#10,776), “sorrow” (#10,772), “taller” (#10,778). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stoke” is #10,775. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around stoke (IPA /stəʊk/), averb. Corpus frequency is #10,775 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "To poke, pierce, thrust.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for stoke, with forms such as "sotke", "sstoke", and "stkoe". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stop", "stow", "story", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stoken, from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”) or Middle Low German stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from Old Dutch *stokon or Old Saxon *stokon, both from Proto-West Germanic *stokōn, from Proto-Germanic *stukōną (“to be stiff, push”),… The correct English form is stoke, spelled S-T-O-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To poke, pierce, thrust.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how stoke appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ne short swerd for to stoke with point bityng / No man ne drawe ne bere it by his syde / Ne no man shal un to his felawe ryde / But o cours with a sharp ygrounde spere

Etymology

From Middle English stoken, from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”) or Middle Low German stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from Old Dutch *stokon or Old Saxon *stokon, both from Proto-West Germanic *stokōn, from Proto-Germanic *stukōną (“to be stiff, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewg- (“to push, beat”). Cognate with Middle High German stoken (“to pierce, jab”), Norwegian Nynorsk stauka (“to push, thrust”). Alternative etymology derives the Middle English word from Old French estoquer, estochier (“to thrust, strike”), from the same Germanic source. More at stock.

This word in other languages

tisonner(Français)stochen(Deutsch)cutucar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sotke
  • sstoke
  • stkoe
  • stoek
  • stokke
  • sttoke
  • tsoke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stoke - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

sotke2sstoke1stkoe2stoek2stokke1sttoke1tsoke2
Edit distance from "stoke"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stoke"?
"stoke" is spelled S-T-O-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /stəʊk/.
What does "stoke" mean?
As a verb, "stoke" means: To poke, pierce, thrust.
What words are commonly confused with "stoke"?
"stoke" is commonly confused with "stop", "stow", "story". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stoke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stoke" is /stəʊk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "stoke"?
From Middle English stoken, from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”) or Middle Low German stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from Old Dutch *stokon or Old Saxon *stokon, both from Proto-West Germanic *stokōn, from Proto-Germanic *stukōną (“to be stif... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stoke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

thigh#10,781troll#10,784rumor#10,761retro#10,756

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Sutton7 variantssorrow7 variantstaller7 variantssaddle7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list