poach
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.
Verb [edit]
poach (third-person singular simple present poaches, present participle poaching, simple past and past participle poached)
- (transitive) to cook something in simmering water
- 1931, Francis Beeding, chapter 1/1, Death Walks in Eastrepps[1]:
- Eldridge closed the despatch-case with a snap and, rising briskly, walked down the corridor to his solitary table in the dining-car. Mulligatawny soup, poached turbot, roast leg of lamb—the usual railway dinner.
- 1931, Francis Beeding, chapter 1/1, Death Walks in Eastrepps[1]:
- To become soft or muddy.
- Chalky and clay lands […] chap in summer, and poach in winter. — Mortimer.
- To make soft or muddy.
- Cattle coming to drink had punched and poached the river bank into a mess of mud.
Translations [edit]
cook in simmering water
Etymology 2 [edit]
From Middle French pocher (“poke”), from Old French pochier (“poke out”)
Verb [edit]
poach (third-person singular simple present poaches, present participle poaching, simple past and past participle poached)
- (transitive, intransitive) to take game or fish illegally while trespassing on someone's property
- (transitive, intransitive) to take anything illegally or unfairly
- (transitive, intransitive) to cause an employee or customer to switch from a competing company to your own company
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to take game or fish illegally
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to take illegally or unfairly
to cause an employee or customer to switch
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