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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

Instead, hiring has steadied and some economists think more employers will soon have to compete harder for workers, which could stoke new cost pressures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

He watched his chance and stooped close beside Heqet on the pretext of helping him stoke an oven.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

In the years that followed, his symptoms worsened and he suffered reoccurring stokes and died from heart failure in 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 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

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

“Whoever stokes the fire during the night gets an extra pancake in the morning,” he said.

From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen

The benchmark Taiex index fell 12% this week, entering bear-market territory as U.S. midterm election results stoked AI regulatory concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

"I just always had the dream of playing for the Wallabies. I am stoked every time I get to do it."

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

“No one’s gonna be stoked to find out it’s just a generic white guy from Florida,” Rispoli, 41, said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Anger about Indonesia's inability to control the haze was stoked further by comments over the weekend from Jakarta's communications agency chief.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

“I’m so stoked we all made the team. It’s gonna be so much fun.”

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

Shares of Alphabet were falling hard in after-hours trading as the company reported a third-quarter revenue and earnings miss on Wednesday, stoking fears that artificial intelligence is pressuring its core search-engine business.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

Robinson had denied the charges, saying he had "panicked" and had been "scared" when the Daily Mail published a story accusing him of "stoking race riots from his sunbed".

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

Still, the deliberate stoking of fear of criminality today mirrors that of the past.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Confidence was also hurt by a more than three percent rise in oil prices after deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia, stoking supply worries.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

One day Brian and I climbed the hillside to try to find some dry wood while Lori stayed in the house, stoking the fire.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• feed
• stir

---