Poach

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpoÊŠtʃ/
• Rhymes: -əʊtʃ

Full definition of poach

Verb

1. (transitive) to cook something in simmering water
• 1931, w, Death Walks in Eastrepps Chapter 1/1, 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 water
• Francis BaconThe 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.
• MortimerChalky 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.
5. (obsolete) To stab; to pierce; to spear, as fish.
6. (obsolete) To force, drive, or plunge into anything.
• Sir W. Templehis horse poaching one of his legs into some hollow ground
7. (obsolete) To begin and not complete.

From Middle French pocher ("poke"), from Old French pochier ("poke out")

Verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) to take game or fish illegally while trespassing on someone's property
2. (transitive, intransitive) to take anything illegally or unfairly
3. (transitive, intransitive) to cause an employee or customer to switch from a competing company to your own company

Derived terms

• poachable
• unpoached

Anagrams

• copha, phoca