stoke

verb

ˈstōk 

stoked; stoking

transitive verb

1

: to poke or stir up (a fire, flames, etc.) : supply with fuel

2

: to feed abundantly

3

: to increase the activity, intensity, or amount of

limiting the number of cars available … will help stoke demand for the car

—Keith Naughton

intransitive verb

: to stir up or tend a fire (as in a furnace) : supply a furnace with fuel

Synonyms

• accelerate
• add (to)
• aggrandize
• amplify
• augment
• boost
• build up
• compound
• enlarge
• escalate
• expand
• extend
• hype
• increase
• multiply
• pump up
• raise
• supersize
• swell
• up

Examples of stoke in a Sentence

The engineer stoked the coals.

The new ad campaign has helped to stoke sales.

Poor revenue figures have stoked concerns about possible layoffs.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rather than rejecting those comparisons, Trump has been wielding them as a means to stoke his base, stir up media attention and, in some ways, win back former supporters. —Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 11 May 2024

Image Image For those who lived through eight months of Russian occupation, the memories have stoked fears that the Russians would be harsher a second time. —Oleksandr Chubko Mauricio Lima, New York Times, 10 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Dutch stoken; akin to Middle Dutch stuken to push

First Known Use

1683, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

stoke

verb

ˈstōk 

stoked; stoking

1

: to stir up or tend (as a fire)

2

: to supply (as a furnace) with fuel

3

: to feed plentifully

stoker noun

Medical Definition

stoke

noun

ˈstōk 

: the cgs unit of kinematic viscosity being that of a fluid which has a viscosity of one poise and a density of one gram per cubic centimeter