poacher

1 of 2

noun (1)

poach·​er ˈpō-chər 

1

: one that trespasses or steals

2

: one who kills or takes wild animals (such as game or fish) illegally

poacher

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

: a covered pan containing a plate with depressions or shallow cups in each of which an egg can be cooked over steam rising from boiling water in the bottom of the pan

2

: a baking dish in which food (such as fish) can be poached

Examples of poacher in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Wild animals and desperate poachers lurk in the savanna, but the true apex predator just might be a fellow traveler sitting calmly on the Jeep during those game drives. —Andrea Bartz, People.com, 18 May 2025

Parking sharks—poachers who trail the sweeper in order to slip into vacated spaces—are handled through mob justice. —Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

Skarsgård plays a man charged with protecting endangered tigers who is given the challenging task of hunting down and killing a tiger who killed a poacher in self-defense. —Raja Krishnamoorthi, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Apr. 2025

Abalone remain the target of poachers, and there is an extensive black market that pays a premium for them, Windsor police said. —Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

poach entry 2

Noun (2)

poach entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1574, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1861, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for poacher

• cloture