poach1
v.
cook by simmering in a small amount of liquid.
▸cook (an egg) without its shell in or over boiling water.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr. pochier, earlier in the sense ‘enclose in a bag’, from poche ‘bag, pocket’.
poach2
v.
- illegally hunt or catch (game or fish) on land that is not one's own or in contravention of official protection.
- take or acquire in an unfair or clandestine way.
- (of an animal) trample or cut up (turf) with its hoofs.
Derivative
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘push roughly together’): appar. rel. to poke1; sense 1 is perh. partly from Fr. pocher (see poach1).