poach

poach — verb

1. to cook food in hot liquid kept just below a full boil, especially eggs without

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to cook food in hot liquid kept just below a full boil, especially eggs without shells or delicate fish.

Example

Chef Mina poached two eggs while the bread warmed in the oven.

poach + egg

Dad poached the salmon in milk for our Sunday lunch.

poach + fish + in liquid

Common collocations
  • poach an egg
  • poach salmon
  • poach pears
  • poach in milk
  • poach in broth
Synonyms
  • boil

    broader and often hotter; poaching uses gentler heat

  • simmer

    describes the heat level and can be part of poaching

  • coddle

    used mainly for eggs cooked very gently

  • stew

    usually means longer cooking of pieces in more liquid

Antonyms
  • fry

    to cook in hot oil or fat instead of water or broth

  • roast

    to cook with dry heat in an oven

Grammar Patterns

poach + egg/fish/fruit

poach + noun phrase + in + liquid

Usage Note

Object is usually eggs, fish, fruit, or chicken. The liquid stays just under a full boil; if it bubbles hard, speakers normally say 'boil' rather than 'poach'.

Common Mistakes

Boil the eggs fast for two minutes to poach them.
Poach the eggs in gently simmering water for two minutes.
poaching uses liquid just below a full boil, not hard bubbling water.

2. to hunt or catch wild animals or fish illegally, especially on land or water you

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to hunt or catch wild animals or fish illegally, especially on land or water you do not have permission to use.

Example

Two men were caught poaching deer near the village at dawn.

intransitive: poaching deer

Rangers say people still poach turtles on the island beach.

Common collocations
  • poach deer
  • poach fish
  • poach turtles
  • poach on private land
  • poach at night
Synonyms
  • hunt

    broader and neutral; it can be legal or illegal

  • trap

    more specific, focusing on catching animals with devices

  • fish

    used only for fish and can be legal

  • trespass

    focuses on entering land without permission, not on taking animals

Antonyms
  • protect

    to keep wild animals safe from harm

  • conserve

    to preserve wildlife and natural populations

Grammar Patterns

poach + animals/fish

poach from + river/lake

poach on + private land

Usage Note

Can be intransitive ('They were poaching again') or transitive ('They poached deer'). Object is usually wild animals, birds, or fish, and the verb often appears with places such as 'on his land' or 'from the river'.

Common Mistakes

They poached the forest last night.
They poached deer in the forest last night.
the object is the animal or fish taken, not the place.

3. to make use of something as if it were yours, especially an idea you got from an

3.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to make use of something as if it were yours, especially an idea you got from another person without giving credit.

Example

Nina accused the rival brand of poaching her ad campaign idea.

poach + idea

That blog poached recipes from home cooks without naming them.

Common collocations
  • poach an idea
  • poach a recipe
  • poach artwork
  • poach quotes
  • poach code
Synonyms
  • steal

    general and stronger; it can refer to any object, not just ideas or content

  • appropriate

    formal, often used for taking ideas or work as your own

  • copy

    weaker, focusing on making something similar rather than claiming it

  • plagiarize

    mainly for words, writing, or creative work presented without credit

Antonyms
  • credit

    to state clearly who created the original work

  • share

    to let others use something openly rather than taking it secretly

Grammar Patterns

poach + idea/design/recipe

poach + content from + source

Usage Note

Object is usually something non-physical such as an idea, recipe, design, or line of code. Distinguish from sense 4: this sense takes things or content, not employees.

Common Mistakes

He poached my pen from the desk.
He took my pen from the desk.
poach is mainly used for ideas, content, or similar non-physical things, not ordinary objects.

4. to persuade a skilled worker to leave another company and join yours, often by o

4.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to persuade a skilled worker to leave another company and join yours, often by offering better pay or conditions.

Example

The Seoul club poached our best striker during the summer break.

A small startup poached three engineers from a big bank.

poach + staff from company

Common collocations
  • poach a manager
  • poach an engineer
  • poach a striker
  • be poached by a rival
  • poach from a competitor
Synonyms
  • headhunt

    focuses on actively searching for a talented worker, often for a senior job

  • recruit

    broader and neutral; it does not imply taking someone from a rival

  • lure away

    emphasizes attraction with better terms or status

  • steal

    informal in business and sport, often used when a rival loses staff

Antonyms
  • retain

    to keep staff from leaving

  • lose

    neutral opposite when a company cannot keep a worker

Grammar Patterns

poach + employee/player

poach + staff from + company

be poached by + rival

Usage Note

Common in business and sport. Object is usually a skilled employee, player, or coach, and the passive is frequent: 'was poached by a rival'. Distinguish from sense 3: here the thing taken is a person, not an idea.

Common Mistakes

The startup poached to our engineer last month.
The startup poached our engineer last month.
poach takes a direct object for the person taken.

Word family

  • poacher
    nounC1
  • poaching
    nounC1
  • poached
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

These cooking verbs all use heat and liquid, but they are not the same. 'Poach' means cooking delicate food in liquid that stays just below a full boil, so the food keeps a soft shape: you poach eggs, fish, pears, or chicken breast. 'Boil' is stronger and rougher, because the water bubbles hard; it can break a poached egg apart. 'Simmer' describes the heat level more than the cooking method, so soup can simmer for an hour, but you usually poach an egg for a few minutes. 'Steam' cooks food above water, not in it. 'Stew' means slow cooking pieces of food for a long time in liquid. For breakfast you poach eggs; for soup you simmer broth.

poach ↗boil ↗simmersteam ↗stew

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

English took poach from Old French pocher through Middle English. The older French verb was related to poche, meaning 'bag' or 'pocket'. One early idea behind the word was taking animals as game, as if putting them into a bag, and English later extended it to other kinds of taking, as well as to gently cooking food in liquid.