stoke

¹ American  

[stohk] / stoʊk /

verb (used with object)

• stokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stoked,
  past participle,  past
• stoking
  present participle

1. to poke, stir up, and feed (a fire).

2. to tend the fire of (a furnace, especially one used with a boiler to generate steam for an engine); supply with fuel.

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verb (used without object)

• stokes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stoked,
  past participle,  past
• stoking
  present participle

1. to shake up the coals of a fire.

2. to tend a fire or furnace.

stoke ² American  

[stohk] / stoʊk /

noun

Physics.

1. a unit of kinematic viscosity, equal to the viscosity of a fluid in poises divided by the density of the fluid in grams per cubic centimeter.

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stoke British  

/ stəʊk /

verb

1. to feed, stir, and tend (a fire, furnace, etc)

2. (tr) to tend the furnace of; act as a stoker for

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• stoking
  present
• stoked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stoke
  simple
• stokes
  simple
• have stoked
  perfect
• has stoked
  perfect
• am stoking
  progressive
• are stoking
  progressive
• is stoking
  progressive
• have been stoking
  perfect progressive
• has been stoking
  perfect progressive

Past

• stoked
  simple
• had stoked
  perfect
• was stoking
  progressive
• were stoking
  progressive
• had been stoking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stoke
  simple
• will have stoked
  perfect
• will be stoking
  progressive
• will have been stoking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stoke¹

1675–85; < Dutch stoken to feed or stock a fire; see stock

Origin of stoke²

After Sir G. Stokes

Explanation

To stoke is to poke a fire and fuel it so that it burns higher. Stoke can also mean "incite" — a principal's impassive silence in the face of requests for more tater tots might stoke the flames of student anger. When a surfer says, "I am so stoked," it means she is excited — the fire of enthusiasm is burning hotter. It's interesting to reflect on how many words in our language have to do with the tending of fires, an activity that has become much less common in recent human history.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stoke stokes stoked stoking

Choosing a laureate who enjoys broad consensus, such as an individual or organisation working to protect children or humanitarian efforts, would be less likely to stoke Trump's ire, experts say.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

It was surrounded by fans and the Fox crew kept trying to stoke the rivalry, while the Kansas and ASU bands battled it out on Wembley Way and on the pitch before kick-off.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

It’s a confluence of events: Anthropic’s IPO is expected soon and that’s going to stoke a lot of excitement and attention on Wall Street.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Perhaps I’m protective of that difference because, of course, companies have always tried to stoke and steer desire.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

We hung our heads, pushed back our chairs, and filed out to help stoke up the firebox in the kitchen house.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

India's central bank hiked interest rates Wednesday for the first time since 2023 as the Middle East conflict stokes inflation in Asia's third-largest economy and batters a weakened rupee.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Extreme weather also stokes inflation, primarily by hitting agricultural production and increasing food prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

“Geopolitical tension should drive safe-haven buying, but when it spikes oil, it stokes inflation, which pushes the Fed to tighten — and that’s gold’s kryptonite,” he said, referring to gold’s weakness.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

A pattern emerges: The crowd suspects a problem, then Pangram validates the suspicion, stokes the mob, and sells the solution.

From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2026

She stokes it with more hunks of turkey and whole candied yams.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

JPMorgan’s enthusiasm was stoked by Muse, which it says has the potential to become “the most widely used consumer AI application since ChatGPT.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

References on Tuesday to leaving "no chance of survival" and "no hope" for future generations will likely have stoked similar alarm.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Mounting concerns about oil supplies, stoked by Saudi Arabia’s forced closure of a vital pipeline, aren’t helping the mood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Asian stocks tumbled Friday as oil prices extended gains and bond yields held at multi-year highs as the Middle East crisis stoked supply concerns and a forecast-topping US inflation report ramped up rate hike bets.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

The fires have been stoked and the ovens left open to disperse the heat.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Hope was briefly sparked after a night-flying plane reported a person stoking a large campfire at Davis Lake below Mount Morgan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Beshear’s newly published book, which is de rigueur for potential candidates seeking to raise their political profile and lay out a vision, is also stoking talk of 2028.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington this week is also stoking cautious optimism on trade issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Global fund managers are being haunted by a new worry — the possibility that bond yields could shoot higher in a “disorderly” manner, stoking volatility that potentially spills over into stocks and the broader economy.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

After three years of pumping the bellows and stoking the furnace, I said to the master, “When do I learn to blow glass?”

From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz

Related Words

• feed
• stir