stoke

present singular third person stokes · participle present stoking · participle past stoked · past stoked

1. obsoletetransitiveTo poke, pierce, thrust.

   Ne short swerd for to stoke with point bityng / No man ne drawe ne bere it by his syde / Ne no man shal un to his felawe ryde / But o cours with a sharp ygrounde spere

   No man shall draw a short sword with a sharpened point for piercing thrusts, nor will bear any such weapon by his side. Neither shall any man ride toward his opponent with a sharp-ground spear more than once.

   1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 34, recto, lines 1688–1691

plural stokes

1. An act of poking, piercing, thrusting

present singular third person stokes · participle present stoking · participle past stoked · past stoked

1. transitiveTo feed, stir up, especially, a fire or furnace.
2. broadlytransitiveTo encourage a behavior or emotion.

   Stoking the star maker machinery behind the popular song

   1974, Joni Mitchell, Free Man in Paris

   2 more examples

   To stoke motivation and ambition, focus instead on the road ahead.

   2011, Roy F. Baumeister, John Tierney, Willpower, →ISBN, page 120

   But, backed by a partying crowd in cowboy hats and fine voice, it was a display that only stoked belief that the Red Roses can make good on their status as tournament favourites after losing in five of the past six finals.

   2025 August 22, Mike Henson, “England open World Cup with 11-try win over USA”, in BBC Sport

3. intransitiveTo attend to or supply a furnace with fuel; to act as a stoker or fireman.

plural stokes

1. misconstructionnatural sciencesMisconstruction of stokes, a unit of kinematic viscosity.

1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Stoke-on-Trent, a city in Staffordshire, England.

   The main line of the L.N.W.R. passed to the west of the Potteries, and it is recorded that in August, 1846, two trains were run from Whitmore (the nearest station to Stoke) to Liverpool for the benefit of excursionists.

   1946 November and December, “Notes and News: A North Staffordshire Railway Centenary”, in Railway Magazine, page 389

2. A former civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, now merged into Stoke and Hurleston civil parish.
3. A village on Hayling Island, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU7102).
4. A village and civil parish in Medway borough, Kent, England; the parish includes Lower Stoke and Middle Stoke (OS grid ref TQ8275).
5. An eastern suburb of Coventry, West Midlands, England (there are a few places in Coventry with other affixes of Stoke) (OS grid ref SP3679).
6. A civil parish in Bromsgrove district, Worcestershire, England.
7. An outer suburb of Nelson, New Zealand, not far from Richmond, named after Stoke-by-Nayland in England.