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pokey

 [poh-kee]   Origin

pok·ey

   [poh-kee] adjective pok·i·er, pok·i·est, noun, plural pok·eys.
poky.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
pokie or pokey (ˈpəʊkɪ)
 
—n
informal (Austral), (NZ) short for poker machine
 
pokey or pokey
 
—n

poky or pokey (ˈpəʊkɪ)
 
—adj , pokier, pokiest
1.  informal (esp of rooms) small and cramped
2.  without speed or energy; slow
 
—n
3.  slang chiefly (US), (Canadian) the poky prison
 
[C19: from poke1 (in slang sense: to confine)]
 
pokey or pokey
 
—adj
 
—n
 
[C19: from poke1 (in slang sense: to confine)]
 
'pokily or pokey
 
—adv
 
'pokiness or pokey
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pokey
"jail," 1919, perhaps altered from pogie "poorhouse" (1891), of unknown origin.
EXPAND

pokey
1849, "confined, shabby," later (1856) "slow, dull;" from poke (v.).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

poky definition


and pokey
  1. n.
    jail; a jail cell. (Usually with the.) : She spent a day in the poky.
  2. mod.
    slow; lagging and inefficient. : Hurry up! Don't be so poky.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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