poison-sumac 
poison-sumac (poi'/.n-sh.Vmak). H A small 
handsome tree, Rhus renenata, of swamp-bor- 
ders in eastern North America. It is even more 
poisonous by contact or vicinity than the poison-Ivy. It* 
leaves have from seven to thirteen leaflets, and, like those 
of the other sumacs, become brilliantly red In the autumn. 
In this condition It Is often unwittingly gathered for orna 
ment. It is distinguishable from the others by Its smooth 
leaves, entire leaflets, axis not winged between the leaflet*, 
and white fruit Also called poiwm- or mamp-dogwood, 
poiton elder, pntm-atk. 
poison-tooth (poi'zn-tflth), n. Same as poison- 
fang or venom-fang. 
poison-tower (poi'zn-tou'er), n. In the pro- 
duction of arsenic, as practised in Saxony and 
Silesia, one of the chambers in which the fumes 
of arsenic and sulphur are condensed, 
poison-tree (poi 'zn-tre), n. Any tree of poison- 
ous character, especially species of Rhus; also 
Croton Verreauxii, a small Australian tree, 
poison- vine (poi'zn-vin), n. 1. The poison- 
ivy. 2. The milk-vine. Periploca Greeca. 
poisonwood (poi'zn-wud), n. 1. A small poi- 
sonous tree, Rhus Metopitim, of the West In- 
dies and southern Florida, whose bark yields 
upon incision a gum with emetic, purgative, 
and diuretic properties. Also called burnwood, 
coral-sumac, mountain mancltineel, hog-plum, etc. 
2. A small euphorbiaceous tree, Sebastiania 
lucida, of the same habitat, its wood, which is hard 
and close-grained, dark-brown streaked with yellow, is 
manufactured into canes, and is also valued for fuel. 
poisonyt, a. [< poison + -yi.] Poisonous. 
Eunomus, who at the first had sowne 
Hit poitony seeds. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Triumph of Faith, IL 48. 
poisuret (poi'znr), . [< poise + -ure.~\ Weight; 
poise. 
Nor Is this forc'd, 
But the mere quality and poiture of goodness. 
Fletcher, Wit without Money, I. 1. 
poitrel (poi'trel), . [Formerly also peitrei, 
peytrel, petrel, etc.. < ME. peytrel, peitrei, pav- 
trelle, payctrelle, < OF. 
poitrat poictral, poic- 
trail, F. poitrail = 8p. 
petrol, pretal = Pg. pei- 
toral = It. pettorate, < 
L. pectorale, a breast- 
plate, neut. of pectora- 
lis, of the breast : see 
pectoral.] A piece of 
armor that protected 
the breast of a horse. 
The use of the poitrel 
lingered long after the 
other parts of the bards 
had been abandoned. 
Walloon poquer, knock: cf. D. pool; MLG. pok. 
LG. poke, a dagger ; 8 w. p&k, a stick ; prob. of 
| Vltip origin: Gael. puc push. Ir. poe, a blow, 
u-, = <; orn - /><*. ><h v e. Hence the as- 
si bilated form poo** 1 .] I. trans, 1. To thrust 
or push against; prod, especially with some- 
thing long or pointed; prod and stir up: as, 
to poke a person in the ribs. 
He helde the swerde In his honde all naked, and griped 
his shelde, and come to hym that yet lay on thegrene, and 
putte thepoynte of his swerde on his shelde andbe-ganto 
**"> (E. E. T. 8.X II 887. 
poker-painting 
6. A customary unit of weight for wool 20 
hundredweight.- A fig In a poke See pig 
poke" (pok), n. [Also pocan; appar.' Amer. 
Ind.] Same as ;w*rrmf or narflef.l Hydrangea- 
leafed poke. See Phytolacca. ioaina poke itheAme 
loan, false, or white hellebore, Veratntm viride. 
poke 4 (pok), n. The small green heron more 
fully called yhitenoke. [U. 8.] 
P<>ke r 't, n. Scrofula. 
Anbanns Bohemus referres that strnma or poke of the 
Bavarians and Styrlans to the nature of their waters. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 71. (Dariet ) 
H. Spencer, Prin. of Psycbol. (2d ed.), | 79. 
The crowning human virtue in a man is to let his wife 
poke the flre. C. D. Warner, Backlog Studies, p. 4. 
2. To push gently; jog. 
And Pandare wep as he to water wolde. 
And poked ever his nece newe and newe. 
Chaucer, Troilus, ill. 116. 
3. To thrust or push. 
The end of the jib-boom seemed about to note Itself Into 
the second story window of a red-brick building. 
4. To force as if by thrusting; urge; incite. 
"jus," quod Pleres the plowman, and pnkked hem alle to 
gode. Fieri plowman (BX v. 643. 
You must still be pnking me, against my will, to things? 
B. Jonton, Poetaster, II. i. ppke-net (pok'net), n. A pole-net. 
5. To put a poke on : as, to poke an ox or a pig. poker 1 (po'ker), n. [< poke* + -fr^A 1. One 
Seepokei, n., 3. [U. S.] &r. To set the plaits ~ u - *-* -'- - 1 - - --- - 
of (a ruff). 
bottletit: same a* feather-poke. [Local, Eng.] 
pokeberry (pok'ber'i), n. ; pi. pokeberries (-iz). 
The fruit of the pokeweed. 
poke-bonnet (pok'bon'et), n. A bonnet hav- 
ing a projecting front of a nearly conical form, 
worn about the beginning of the nineteenth 
century and later. 
His mamma . . . came fawning In with her old poke- 
bonnet. Thackeray, Level the Widower/ vt. 
poke-dial* (pok'di'al), . A pocket-dial; spe- 
cifically, a ring-dial. 
poke-milkweed (ppk'milk' wed), . An Amer- 
ican plant, Asclepias phytolaccoides, with some 
resemblance to pokeweed. 
My poor innocent Openwork came In as I was poking 
my ruff. Middleton and Dekker, Roaring Girl, Iv. 2. 
To poke fun. to joke ; make fun. (Colloq.l To poke 
fun at, to ridicule ; make a butt of. (Colloq.l 
H. intrans. 1. To stoop or bend forward in 
walking. 2. To grope; search; feel or push 
one's way in or as in the dark; also, to move to 
and fro ; dawdle. 
Hang Homer and Virgil ; their Meaning to seek 
A man must have pofd into Latin and Greek. 
Prior, Down-Hall, st, 3. 
who or that which pokes, (a) An iron or steel bar 
or rod used in poking or stirring a flre. 
If the poker be out of the way, or broken, stir the flre 
with the tongs. 
Sw\ft, Advice to Servants, General Directions. 
<M) A small stick or iron used for getting the plaits of 
ruffs ; a poklng-stlck. 
Now your Puritans poker Is not so huge, but somewhat 
longer; a long slender poking sticke Is the all in all with 
your Suffolke Purltane. 
lleywxmd. If you Know not Me (Works, ed. Pearson, I. 2581. 
(<0 An Iron instrument used for driving hoops on masts. 
It has a flat foot at one end and a round knob at the 
other. Red-hot-DOker. Same as Jlame-j' 
about in the shattered castle. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 342. 
poke 1 (pok), n. [< pokel, v.] 1. A gentle 
thrust or push, especially with something long 
or pointed ; a prod ; a dig. 
"But," concluded Uncle Jack, with a sly look, and glv- 
Ing me A poke in the rite, "I've had to do with mines be 
fore now, and know what they are." 
K.,1,^, ^a^ton^ xvll. i. 
2. A poke-bonnet. 
Governesses don't wear ornnments. You had better get 
me a grey frieze livery and a straw pokr, such as my aunt's 
charity children wear. Gtor<ie Eliot, Dmilel Deronda 
Poitrel. isth century. 
Curious harneys, as In 
sadeles, in crouperes, pey- 
trelt and bridles covered with 
precious clothing, and riche barres and plates of gold and 
Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
His petrell and reins were embroidered with feathers. 
.Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, III. 
poitrine (poi'trin), . [< OF.poictrine, a breast- 
plate, the breast, also peitrine, petrine, F. poi- 
<rte,the breast, = Sp. petrina, pretina, a girdle, 
= Pe.petrina = It. pettorina, petturiiia, a bi-east- 
girdle, < L. as if "pectorina, < pcctus (pector-), 
breast: see pectoral.] 1. The breastplate of a 
knight. 2. Same t&poitrel. 
poivrette (pwo-vref), . [F., <poivre, pepper: 
see pepper^ Same as pepperette. 
poizet, " and n. An obsolete form of poise. 
pokal (po-kal'), . [= Sw. Dan. pokal, < G. 
rkal, (p. bocal, adnnking-vessel: seeftocai.] 
driuking-ves- 
sel of ornamen- 
tal character, 
large andshowy; 
a vessel shaped 
like a drinking- 
vessel: a term 
recently borrow- 
ed from the Ger- 
man, and ap- 
plied especially 
to vessels of sil- 
ver and of en- 
ameled glass of 
German make. 
poke 1 (pok), e. ; 
pret. and pp. 
poked, vWf.jHHe- 
Ing. [<MK. /.- 
ken, piiul-iii, 
pukkfn = D. pi>- 
ken = ML<i. LG. 
poke*, poke, = 
3. A sort of collar or ox-bow from the lower 
part of which n short pole projects, placed about 
the neck of a cow or steer in order to prevent it 
from jumping fences. [U.S.] 4. A lazy per- 
son ; a dawdler. [U. 8.] 
They're only worn by some old-fashioned poke*. 
Lowell, KHz Adam's Story. 
poke 2 (pok), . [< ME. poke, also irreg. palkr 
= MD.;>ofre(> OF. poqut, poiiquc, assibilated 
poche , pouclie, > JfE.potuAe, E. pouch), a bag, = 
leel.poki. abag; prob. of Celtic origin, < Ir.poc. 
Gael, poca, a bag. Cf. AS. poha, p<>hha, a purse, 
etc. Hence ult. pocket, pucker. Cf. the doublet 
pouch. No connection with AS.pung, a bag, 
= Icel. pungr, a pouch, purse, = Cloth, puggs, a 
bag.] 1. A pocket; a pouch; a bag; a sack. 
" Trewely, frere," qoath y tho, " to tellen the the sothe, 
Ther Is no peny In my palke to payen for my mete." 
Piert Plinrmaiii Crate (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 899. 
And in the floor, with nose and month to-broke, 
They walwe as doon two plgges In a poke. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 358. 
And then he drew a dial from bit poke. 
Shak., As you Like It, it 7. 20. 
2f. A large, wide, bag-like sleeve formerly in 
vogue. Same as poke-sleeve. 
An hool clolth of scarlet may not make a gowne, 
The pnket of purchace batmen to the erthe 
MS. Digby 41, f. 7. (HaUiwell.) 
3. A bag or bladder filled with air and used by 
IMirnnen as a buoy. 
When the pokft are used, the officer gives the order to 
Blow op! Blowup!" and a man with sound lungs grasps 
"in., if these membranous pouches anil Inflates It .. It 
in then al Inched to the whale, and, being of a white color 
may be readily seen at quite a distance from the ship. 
Fifheries of 17. S., V. ii. 270. 
4. The stomach or swimming-bladder of a fish. 
5. A cock, as of hay. [Prov. Kng.] 
I pray thee mow, and do not go 
I'ntil the hay 's In pnket. 
liiillml of the Moifer, quoted In N. and Q., 7th ser VI 
1287. 
ker, the devil, deuce, and see puck. Cf. hodge- 
poker.] Any frightful object; a bugbear. 
[Oolloq.]- Old Poker, the devil. (Slang.] 
The very leaves on the horse-chesnuts are little snotty- 
nosed things that cry and are afraid of the north wind 
and cling to the hough as if Old Pokerww coming to take 
them away. Walpolr, Utters, Iv. 859. 
poker 3 (po'ker), n. [Origin obscure ; perhaps 
a particular use, as orig. applied, of poker' 1 or 
l>oker%, but, as with some other names of card- 
games (e. g. ctictirc), the origin is without lit- 
erary record.] A game of cards played by two 
or more persons with a full pack of fifty-two 
cards, which rank as in whist. After each player 
lias deposited an ante or preliminary bet In the pool, hands 
of flve cards are dealt Any player not satisfied can demand 
in place of from one to flve cards In his hand as many new 
ones from the undealt part of the pack : the eldest hand 
must then deposit an additional bet In the pool or with- 
draw from the game, the second hand having then the 
privilege of betting higher, or calliny (that Is, merely 
equating the bet and demanding a show of handsX or 
retiring, and so on all around. If all the players lint one 
retire, that one takes the pool ; if a player calls the bet. 
those who follow him may bet the same amount, and the 
highest hand wins the pool. The hands rank as follows 
beginning with the lowest: (1) the highest card In any 
hand ; (2) one pair ; (3) two pairs ; (4) three of the same de- 
nomination ; (6) a "straight ' a sequence of flve cards not 
nf the same suit (sometimes omitted); (6) a flush five 
cards of the same suit not In sequence; (7) a full three 
cards of the same denomination and a pair ; (8) four cards 
of the same denomination ; and (9) a straight flush a se- 
quence of flve cards of the same suit. There are varieties of 
the game known as whuky-poker, straight poker, etc. [ tl & 1 
poker 4 (po'ker), n. [Cf. pochard.] One of 
various kinds of wild ducks, especially the 
pochard. [Local. Eng.] 
pokerish 1 (po'ker-ish), a. [< poker* + -wfti.l 
Like a poker; stiff. [Colloq.] 
Maud Elliott, the most reserved and diffident girl of 
her acquaintance "stiff and pnkeruh, " Ella called her 
The Century, XXXVI. 35. 
pokerish 2 (po'ker-ish), a. [< nokerl + -wtA 1 .] 
Frightful; causing fear, especially to children; 
uncanny: as, a pokerish place. [Colloq.] 
There Is something pokcrith about a deserted dwelling 
even in broad daylight. Lowell, Fireside Travels, p. 144. 
pokerlshly (po'ker-ish-li), adr. Like a poker; 
stiffly. [Colloq.] 
"I'm afraid I'm interrupting a pleasant tete-a-tete?" 
says the old lady, pnkeruthtt/. 
R. KrmiQhtmi, Cometh upas a Flower, xixvl. 
poke-root (pok 'r8t), n. The Indian poke (scp 
under ;</.v"), or its root; also, the root of tin. 
piikcweed. 
poker-painting (po'k.'-r-pan'ting), i. The pro- 
cess or act of producing poker-pictures. 
