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POKER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any of various card games in which players bet that they hold the highest-ranking hand
Synonyms:
poker; poker game
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("poker" is a kind of...):
card game; cards (a game played with playing cards)
Domain member category:
raise (increasing the size of a bet (as in poker))
poker face (a face without any interpretable expression (as that of a good poker player))
jackpot; kitty; pot (the cumulative amount involved in a game (such as poker))
ante ((poker) the initial contribution that each player makes to the pot)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "poker"):
draw; draw poker (poker in which a player can discard cards and receive substitutes from the dealer)
high-low (poker in which the high and low hands split the pot)
penny ante; penny ante poker (poker played for small stakes)
straight poker (poker in which each player gets 5 cards face down and bets are made without drawing any further cards)
strip poker (poker in which a player's losses are paid by removing an article of clothing)
stud; stud poker (poker in which each player receives hole cards and the remainder are dealt face up; bets are placed after each card is dealt)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire
Synonyms:
fire hook; poker; salamander; stove poker
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("poker" is a kind of...):
fire iron (metal fireside implements)
Derivation:
poke (stir by poking)
Context examples:
As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Without putting down the poker, he now hugged me again; and I hugged him; and, both laughing, and both wiping our eyes, we both sat down, and shook hands across the hearth.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
While this attack lasted, the family lived in constant fear of a conflagration, for the odor of burning wood pervaded the house at all hours, smoke issued from attic and shed with alarming frequency, red-hot pokers lay about promiscuously, and Hannah never went to bed without a pail of water and the dinner bell at her door in case of fire.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Then I seized the poker and went downstairs.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I believe I had a delirious idea of seizing the red-hot poker out of the fire, and running him through with it.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Yes, his head was knocked in with his own poker.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled, and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The poker got into my dozing thoughts besides, and wouldn't come out.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Beside him lay the heavy poker, bent into a curve by the concussion.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
