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

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 the gift that keeps on giving: They stoke the flames, and the flames reward them back.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

Reading gave him a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that followed him into early adulthood — a penchant he would like to stoke in his fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Skeptics viewed the maneuver as an attempt by the chip maker to stoke demand for its own products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The potatoes I'd been expecting have apparently either been clarified to an essence or were used to stoke the grill.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

“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

The European Central Bank is expected to hike interest rates this week for the first time in two and a half years as the Iran war energy shock stokes inflation.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 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

Stagflation—when economic growth stalls and inflation accelerates—is a growing concern in South Korea, as the fallout from the war stokes upside risks to prices and downside risks to growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Bree stokes the small fire and places more pots of tea on the iron rack.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

But the Fife town is in the grips of an affordable housing crisis, where property prices are being stoked by the influence of wealthy buyers from outwith Scotland.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Oil prices climbed in Asia as escalating tensions in the U.S.-Iran conflict stoked concerns over potential supply disruptions in the Middle East.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The suit stoked fears that if foreign companies manage tents, they could introduce foreign beer and food.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Investors are keeping tabs on Tokyo after a spike in the Japanese yen stoked speculation of more intervention by authorities.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

But in 2004 a local incident had stoked the fire again.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

He allegedly has close ties with Myanmar's ultranationalist monk Wirathu, who is accused of stoking religious tensions there.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

The case has also drawn wide attention on social media, stoking broader debates around mental health, postpartum psychosis, and the limits of criminal responsibility.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Theater, in other words, that was creating a sense of belonging and not simply stoking an appetite for consuming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Notably, the measures announced stopped short of directly penalizing China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, a move that would have risked stoking tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Really stoking him now, making him slam his candy bar to the ground.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

• feed
• stir