stoke
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to poke, stir up, and feed (a fire).
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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)
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to shake up the coals of a fire.
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to tend a fire or furnace.
noun
verb
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to feed, stir, and tend (a fire, furnace, etc)
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(tr) to tend the furnace of; act as a stoker for
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stokesimple
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stokessimple
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have stokedperfect
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has stokedperfect
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am stokingprogressive
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are stokingprogressive
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is stokingprogressive
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have been stokingperfect progressive
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has been stokingperfect progressive
Past
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stokedsimple
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had stokedperfect
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was stokingprogressive
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were stokingprogressive
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had been stokingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing stoke
100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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Words You Need to See in the Wild
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Bronx Masquerade
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During almost four months of the Iran war, Treasury yields and crude prices broadly moved in the same direction because war spending and higher energy costs tend to stoke inflation.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on social media that any feud between the two "delights" Russia's Vladimir Putin and called on Zelensky and Nawrocki to "calm emotions, not to stoke tensions".
From BBC • Jun. 20, 2026
Rodgers’ appointment comes as Kohl’s looks to stoke a turnaround that sticks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
U.S. stocks took another hammering tied to renewed tensions in the Gulf region, questions over the fate of the artificial intelligence trade, and faster inflation metrics that could stoke Federal Reserve rate hikes.
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
Several evenings later, just before darkness completely obscured the path, Amari, exhausted from the labors of the day, hurried to finish gathering kindling to stoke Teenie’s fire during the night.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
