pig in a poke
Something whose true value is concealed or unknown and may be lower than expected by the buyer or claimed by the seller, especially something offered for sale.
poke
/pəʊk/
noun 10verb 5name 1
Collocations
5ADJ.
afraid, fun, low, mean, old, other, slow, stupid
VERB + POKE
don't, eaten, likes, ordered, rocks
POKE + NOUN
bowl, bowls, foreigners, it's, nose, pok, someone
PREP.
from, in, in, into, on, out, up, with
ADV.
completely, often, such, then
Definitions
verb
1
To prod or jab with an object such as a finger or a stick.
Ward showed good pace to beat the advancing Reina to the ball and poke a low finish into the corner.
2
To stir up a fire to remove ash or promote burning.
3
To rummage; to feel or grope around.
I poked about in the rubble, trying to find my lost keys.
4
To modify the value stored in (a memory address).
The 200 UDGs may be used either by paging between 10 sets of 20 UDGs or, alternatively, by displaying 96 different characters by poking the system variable CHARS with 256 less than the starting address of your graphics.
If you try to poke a value outside this range into a byte, Basic will beep you with an ILLEGAL QUANTITY error.
5
To put a poke (device to prevent leaping or breaking fences) on (an animal).
to poke an ox
I find from their testimony , which was not contradicted , that the placing of such a poke upon such a colt in such a pasture is not considered dangerous, and that farmers are accustomed so to poke their own horses, but that they are not accustomed to put pokes on or 'hamper' horses owned by other persons without the authorization of the owner.
noun
1
A prod, jab, or thrust.
2
A lazy person; a dawdler.
The slowness of this stupid poke tortures me to death.
To the uninitiated he looked like a slow old poke; but his string would lengthen out in a most mysterious way , and it was the height of our ambition to set as much and as clean a proof as old John.
3
A stupid or uninteresting person.
I see you shaking your head at me, mother, and reminding me of 'That mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me;' but I don't believe I go on so; if I have nothing to say I keep still, and you'd better be a stupid poke, which I often feel myself, than waste the time with such trash.
She was only sixteen, and he was perfectly splendid, and she has plenty of money, and every one talked about it; and when she went anywhere, people looked, you know, and she liked it; but her papa is an old poke, so he's sent them all away. It's too bad, for she was the jolliest thing I ever knew .
4
An old, worn-out horse.
It was feared the dear old poke I had been riding could not keep up with the rest on this long day's journey: so I had "the cook's horse," who did not understand my method of pulling my dear old beast's head from the edge of the ravine gently with my bridle.
Probably summer residents, and this old poke won't move out of a walk, and I've no whip.
5
A device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward.
I find from their testimony , which was not contradicted , that the placing of such a poke upon such a colt in such a pasture is not considered dangerous, and that farmers are accustomed so to poke their own horses, but that they are not accustomed to put pokes on or 'hamper' horses owned by other persons without the authorization of the owner.
This yoke or poke will prevent any horse from scaling a fence, if well made.
noun
1
A sack or bag.
And then he drew a dial from his poke, And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye, Says very wisely, ‘It is ten o'clock[…]’
When the Pig is proffered, hold vp the poke.
2
A long, wide sleeve.
3
An ice cream cone or a bag of chips
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purcha
noun — tall coarse perennial American herb having small white flowe
- garget
- scoke
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
poke one's nose into
Synonym of stick one's nose into.
"Have a nice day, Mr Perelman!" said the cabbie. "Listen!" he said, "Don't poke your nose into my affairs. I'll have the kind of day I want to."
poke someone's eye out
To damage or harm someone's eye to the point that it can no longer see.
Hey, watch where you're throwing that thing! You could've poked Jeff's eye out.
you don't look at the mantelpiece when you poke the fire
Alternative form of you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire.
poke the bear
To deliberately aggravate somebody, especially somebody in a position of power or authority.
Throughout my training I witnessed several doctors run out of town because their honesty and outspokenness began to poke the bear.
Example Bank
601
Ward showed good pace to beat the advancing Reina to the ball and poke a low finish into the corner.
Wiktionary02
I poked about in the rubble, trying to find my lost keys.
Wiktionary03
The 200 UDGs may be used either by paging between 10 sets of 20 UDGs or, alternatively, by displaying 96 different characters by poking the system variable CHARS with 256 less than the starting addres
Wiktionary04
The slowness of this stupid poke tortures me to death.
Wiktionary05
To the uninitiated he looked like a slow old poke; but his string would lengthen out in a most mysterious way , and it was the height of our ambition to set as much and as clean a proof as old John.
Wiktionary06
I never saw such an old poke. You come up here and expect me to do some things for you, and then you stand around as though you were made of bone!
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, poke is marked as figuratively, dated, slang, archaic, US. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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