stoke

[stohk]

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verb (used with object), stoked, stok·ing.

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

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), stoked, stok·ing.

to shake up the coals of a fire.

to tend a fire or furnace.

Origin of stoke

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

stoke

[stohk]

noun Physics.

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.

Origin of stoke

after Sir G. Stokes

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stoke

feed, stir, poke, tend

Examples from the Web for stoke

Contemporary Examples of stoke

Comments like that are designed to stoke the fires of fan-passion—and it works beautifully.
All Your Internet Boyfriends Are Taken: Gosling, Cumberbatch, and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Melissa Leon
January 3, 2015
So much of the fear the media tries to stoke in me is fear of the oppressed underdog lashing out.
Of Gamers, Gates, and Disco Demolition: The Roots of Reactionary Rage
Arthur Chu
October 16, 2014
But also just as the news media plays to or even inflames such fears to drive ratings, Republicans stoke fear to drive votes.
Ebola Scare-Mongerer Rand Paul Wants You to Think You’re Going to Die
Sally Kohn
October 12, 2014
For Live Another Day, did you make a concerted effort to not stoke those fires?
‘24: Live Another Day’ Showrunners on the Finale, the Dangers of Drones, and Jack Bauer’s Future
Marlow Stern
July 15, 2014
They are also likely to stoke the kind of sectarian mistrust from which ISIS draws its strength.
How Iran and America Can Beat ISIS Together
Ben Van Heuvelen
June 21, 2014

Historical Examples of stoke

Tree is less vigorous than Stoke and more subject to blight.
Northern Nut Growers Association Thirty-Fourth Annual Report 1943
Various
Crashaw was one of the influences that hastened the Stotts' departure from Stoke.
The Wonder
J. D. Beresford
There was but one item of news from Stoke, and it soon came to the surface.
The Wonder
J. D. Beresford
This house goes by machinery, with Elspeth to stoke up the motive power.
Big Game
Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
We were living at Stoke Newington when the children were born.
Lover or Friend
Rosa Nouchette Carey

British Dictionary definitions for stoke

stoke

verb

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

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

Word Origin for stoke

C17: back formation from stoker

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stoke

1650s (implied in stoker), "to feed and stir up a fire in a fireplace," from Dutch stoken "to stoke," from Middle Dutch stoken "to poke, thrust," related to stoc "stick, stump," from Proto-Germanic *stok-, variant of *stik-, *stek- "pierce, prick" (see stick (v.)). Stoked "enthusiastic" recorded in surfer slang by 1963, but the extension of the word to persons is older:

Having "stoked up," as the men called it, the brigades paraded at 10.30 a.m., ready for the next stage of the march. ["Cassell's History of the Boer War," 1901]

stoke in Medicine

stoke

[stōk]

n.

A unit of kinematic viscosity equal to that of a fluid with a viscosity of one poise and a density of one gram per milliliter.