poach

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊtʃ/
• Rhymes: -əʊtʃ

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

1. (transitive) To cook something in simmering liquid.
   • 1931, Francis Beeding, “1/1”, in 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.

2. (intransitive) To be cooked in simmering liquid
   • (Can we date this quote by Francis Bacon and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The white of an egg with spirit of wine, doth bake the egg into clots, as if it began to poach.

3. To become soft or muddy.
   • (Can we date this quote by Mortimer and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Chalky and clay lands […] chap in summer, and poach in winter.

4. To make soft or muddy.

   Cattle coming to drink had punched and poached the river bank into a mess of mud.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)

5. (obsolete) To stab; to pierce; to spear, as fish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Carew to this entry?)

6. (obsolete) To force, drive, or plunge into anything.
   • (Can we date this quote by Sir W. Temple and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     his horse poaching one of his legs into some hollow ground

7. (obsolete) To begin and not complete.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Derived terms

• poached egg

Translations

to cook in simmering liquid

• Armenian: պաշոտ եփել (pašot epʻel)
• Catalan: escaldar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: pocheren (nl)
• Esperanto: poĉi
• Finnish: hauduttaa (fi)
• French: pocher (fr)
• German: pochieren (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: buggyant (hu), bever (hu), posíroz (hu)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: escalfar
• Serbo-Croatian: poširanje
• Spanish: escalfar (es)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

to be cooked in simmering liquid

• Dutch: pocheren (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: hautua (fi)

to become soft or muddy

• Finnish: pehmetä
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

to make soft or muddy

• Finnish: pehmentää (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

poach (plural poaches)

1. The act of cooking in simmering liquid.
   • 2005, Jill Dupleix, Good Cooking: The New Basics (page 152)

     Peaches are so perfect they need very little to make them extra special—just a quick poach in basil-scented rosé wine and a few adoring strawberries.

Etymology 2

From Middle French pocher (“poke”), from Old French pochier (“poke out”). Doublet of poke.

Verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To take game or fish illegally.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To take anything illegally or unfairly.
   • 2024 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     Chelsea's embarrassment was symbolised by Ross Barkley's inexplicable header straight to the feet of Aguero to poach his second and Ilkay Gundogan capped that early blitz with a low drive.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To entice (an employee or customer) to switch from a competing company to one's own.

Derived terms

• poachable
• poacher
• unpoached

Translations

to take game or fish illegally

• Armenian: որսագողությամբ զբաղվել (orsagoġutʻyamb zbaġvel) (game), ձկնաագողությամբ զբաղվել (jknaagoġutʻyamb zbaġvel) (fish)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偷獵／偷猎 (zh) (tōuliè), 偷猎 (zh) (tōuliè)

• Czech: pytlačit
• Dutch: stropen (nl)
• Esperanto: ŝtelĉasi
• Finnish: salametsästää, metsästää salaa, salakalastaa, kalastaa salaa
• French: braconner (fr)
• German: wildern (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: cacciare di frodo, pescare di frodo
• Japanese: 密猟する (みつりょうする, mitsuryō-suru) (game), 密漁する (みつりょうする, mitsuryō-suru) (fish)
• Maori: kaihaumi
• Portuguese: caçar/pescar furtivamente
• Russian: занима́ться браконье́рством (zanimátʹsja brakonʹjérstvom)
• Scottish Gaelic: poidsig
• Spanish: (gathering) recolectar furtivamente, (logging) talar furtivamente, (fishing) pescar furtivamente, (hunting) cazar furtivamente, (poaching) practicar furtivismo
• Swedish: tjuvjaga (game), tjuvfiska (sv) (fish)
• Walloon: bracner (wa)

to take illegally or unfairly

• Finnish: kaapata (fi)
• Japanese: 横取りする (yokodori-suru)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: quitar furtivamente, hurtar (es)

to entice an employee or customer to switch

• Finnish: kaapata (fi)
• French: débaucher (fr) (employee), détourner (fr) (customer)
• German: abwerben
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: assumere (it)
• Russian: перема́нивать (ru) impf (peremánivatʹ), перемани́ть (ru) pf (peremanítʹ)
• Spanish: cazar cabeza

Noun

poach (plural poaches)

1. The act of taking something unfairly, as in tennis doubles where one player returns a shot that their partner was better placed to return.

External links

• Template:projectlink

Anagrams

• copha, phaco, phaco-, phoca