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
Etymology
Origin of stoke1
1675–85; < Dutch stoken to feed or stock a fire; stock
Origin of stoke2
After Sir G. Stokes
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.
Supermarkets operate with razor-thin profit margins, stoking fierce competition to win as many customers as possible.
A surge in energy costs could stoke inflation, threatening the global economy and prompting central banks to halt interest-rate cuts.
Falls are limited as a drop in U.S. tech stocks stoked risk aversion.
Analysts and economists have pushed back against the scenarios laid out in the report, but Block’s drastic job cuts will likely stoke up those fears.
To do so, he’ll have to iron out disagreements over Canada’s Sikh population, which India accuses of stoking separatist sentiment on its soil.
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.
