stoke

See also: Stoke

English

Pronunciation

(UK) enPR: stōk, IPA^(key): /stəʊk/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊk
(US) enPR: stōk, IPA^(key): /stoʊk/

Etymology 1

From Middle English stoken, from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”) or Middle Low German stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from Old Dutch *stokon or Old Saxon *stokon, both from Proto-West Germanic *stokōn, from Proto-Germanic *stukōną (“to be stiff, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewg- (“to push, beat”).

Cognate with Middle High German stoken (“to pierce, jab”), Norwegian Nynorsk stauka (“to push, thrust”). Alternative etymology derives the Middle English word from Old French estoquer, estochier (“to thrust, strike”), from the same Germanic source. More at stock.

Verb

stoke (third-person singular simple present stokes, present participle stoking, simple past and past participle stoked)

(transitive, obsolete) To poke, pierce, thrust.
- 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 34, recto, lines 1688–1691:
  Ne short swerd for to stoke with point bityng / No man ne drawe ne bere it by his syde / Ne no man shal un to his felawe ryde / But o cours with a sharp ygrounde spere
  No man shall draw a short sword with a sharpened point for piercing thrusts, nor will bear any such weapon by his side. Neither shall any man ride toward his opponent with a sharp-ground spear more than once.

Translations

to poke, pierce

Bulgarian: мушкам (bg) (muškam)
Dutch: stoken (nl)
French: tisonner (fr)
German: stochen (de), schüren (de)
Korean: 쑤시다 (ko) (ssusida), 쑤석거리다 (ko) (ssuseokgeorida), 지르다 (ko) (jireuda), 찌르다 (ko) (jjireuda)
Portuguese: cutucar (pt), furar (pt)

Noun

stoke (plural stokes)

An act of poking, piercing, thrusting

Etymology 2

From a back-formation of stoker, apparently from Dutch stoker, from stoken (“to kindle a fire, incite, instigate”), from Middle Dutch stoken (“to poke, thrust”), from stock (“stick, stock”), see: tandenstoker. Ultimately the same word as above.

Verb

stoke (third-person singular simple present stokes, present participle stoking, simple past and past participle stoked)

(transitive) To feed, stir up, especially, a fire or furnace.
(transitive, by extension) To encourage a behavior or emotion.
- 1974, Joni Mitchell, Free Man in Paris:
  Stoking the star maker machinery behind the popular song
- 2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, →ISBN, page 120:
  To stoke motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead.
(intransitive) To attend to or supply a furnace with fuel; to act as a stoker or fireman.