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poach

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poach

1  [pohch]
Use poach in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to trespass, esp. on another's game preserve, in order to steal animals or to hunt.
2. to take game or fish illegally.
3. (of land) to become broken up or slushy by being trampled.
4. (in tennis, squash, handball, etc.) to play a ball hit into the territory of one's partner that is properly the partner's ball to play.
5. Informal. to cheat in a game or contest.
–verb (used with object)
6. to trespass on (private property), esp. in order to hunt or fish.
7. to steal (game or fish) from another's property.
8. to take without permission and use as one's own: to poach ideas; a staff poached from other companies.
9. to break or tear up by trampling.
10. to mix with water and reduce to a uniform consistency, as clay.
Origin:
1520–30; earlier: to shove, thrust < MF pocher to gouge < Gmc; akin to poke 1

Related forms:
poach⋅a⋅ble, adjective
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poach

2  [pohch]
–verb (used with object)
to cook (eggs, fish, fruits, etc.) in a hot liquid that is kept just below the boiling point.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME poche < MF pocher lit., to bag (the yolk inside the white), deriv. of poche bag (F poche pocket) < MD poke poke 2

Related forms:
poach⋅a⋅ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To poach
poach 1   (pōch)   
tr.v.   poached, poach·ing, poach·es
To cook in a boiling or simmering liquid: Poach the fish in wine.

[Back-formation from Middle English poched, poached, from poche, dish of poached eggs, from Old French, from past participle of pochier, to poach eggs, from poche, pocket, bag (from their appearance), of Germanic origin.]
poach'a·ble adj.
poach 2   (pōch)   
v.   poached, poach·ing, poach·es

v.   intr.

  1. To trespass on another's property in order to take fish or game.

  2. To take fish or game in a forbidden area.

  3. To become muddy or broken up from being trampled. Used of land.

  4. To sink into soft earth when walking.

    1. To take or appropriate something unfairly or illegally.

    2. Sports To play a ball out of turn or in another's territory, as in doubles tennis.

v.   tr.

  1. To trespass on (another's property) for fishing or hunting.

  2. To take (fish or game) illegally.

  3. To make (land) muddy or broken up by trampling.

    1. To take or appropriate unfairly or illegally.

    2. Sports To play (a ball) out of turn or in another's territory.


[Obsolete French pocher, to poke, thrust, intrude, from Old French pochier, to poke, gouge, of Germanic origin.]
poach'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

poach  (1)
"steal game," 1528, "to push, poke," from M.Fr. pocher "to thrust, poke," from O.Fr. pochier "poke out, gouge," from a Gmc. source (cf. M.H.G. puchen "to pound, beat, knock") related to poke (v.). Sense of "trespass for the sake of stealing" is first attested 1611, perhaps via notion of "thrusting" oneself onto another's property.

poach  (2)
"cook in liquid," c.1430, from O.Fr. poché, pp. of pochier (12c.), lit. "put into a pocket" (as the white of an egg forms a pocket for the yolk), from poche "bag, pocket," from Frank. *pokka "bag," from Gmc. *puk- (see poke (n.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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