poke around

phrasal verb

poked around; poking around; pokes around
informal
: to look around or search through something
He poked around in his closet for something to wear to the party.
—often used figuratively
I don't want you poking around in my personal life.

Examples of poke around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
So my two hours is spent kind of poking around in their world trying to find something. — Rachel Desantis, People.com, 25 Feb. 2025 This process of poking around has led to some interesting — and sometimes contradictory — insights about the nature of warp drives in the three decades since Alcubierre's original discovery. — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 22 Feb. 2025 So Joe Schoen and the Giants are poking around this week on the free agent corner market, including on the Minnesota Vikings’ Byron Murphy Jr., according to a source. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 27 Feb. 2025 One more trade deadline item: Could Colorado poke around for a bigger bottom-six center? — Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 22 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for poke around

Rhymes for poke around

See All Rhymes for poke around

Browse Nearby Words

poke around
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Poke around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poke%20around. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Words You Always Have to Look Up

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All