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poach

verb · noun

Simple meaning

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

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pohch
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpoʊtʃ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. ambitransitive

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

  2. ambitransitive

    Hunt illegally

    “People are poaching elephants for their ivory.”

  3. by extensionambitransitive

    To take anything illegally or unfairly.

  4. transitive

    To cook (something) in simmering or very hot liquid (usually water; sometimes wine, broth, or otherwise).

  5. intransitive

    To be cooked in such manner.

  6. To make soft or muddy by trampling.

noun

  1. The act of cooking in simmering liquid.

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

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (ambitransitive) To trespass on another's property to take fish or game.

Used this way, poach is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use poach

  • “People are poaching elephants for their ivory.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

poach fishpoach gentlypoach eggspoach chicken

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • poachingnounInflected form

    Cooking in simmering liquid.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • poached eggnounCompound term

    Egg cooked in gently boiling water.

  • sea poachernounCompound term

    Small slender fish (to 8 inches) with body covered by bony plates.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.