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Poke vs Touch - What's the difference?

poke | touch |

In transitive computing terms the difference between poke and touch

is that poke is to modify the value stored in (a memory address) while touch is to mark (a file or document) as having been modified.

In transitive terms the difference between poke and touch

is that poke is to thrust (something) in a particular direction such as the tongue while touch is to be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality.

As verbs the difference between poke and touch

is that poke is to prod or jab with a pointed object such as a finger or a stick while touch is primarily physical senses.

As nouns the difference between poke and touch

is that poke is a lazy person; a dawdler while touch is an act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.

poke

English

Etymology 1

Perhaps from (etyl) poken or (etyl) poken (both from (etyl) ), perhaps imitative.

Verb

(pok)
  • To prod or jab with a pointed object such as a finger or a stick.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2010 , date=December 29 , author=Sam Sheringham , title=Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Ward showed good pace to beat the advancing Reina to the ball and poke a low finish into the corner.}}
  • To poke a fire to remove ash or promote burning.
  • (figuratively) To rummage as in to poke about in.
  • (computing) To modify the value stored in (a memory address).
  • * 1984 , Franco Frey, SPECGRAFFITI'' (in ''Crash magazine, issue 6, July 1984)
  • The 200 UDGs may be used either by paging between 10 sets of 20 UDGs or, alternatively, by displaying 96 different characters by poking the system variable CHARS with 256 less than the starting address of your graphics.
  • * 1985 , Tom Weishaar, Bert Kersey, The DOStalk Scrapbook (page 44)
  • If you try to poke a value outside this range into a byte, Basic will beep you with an ILLEGAL QUANTITY error.
  • To put a poke on.
  • to poke an ox
  • To thrust with the horns; to gore.
  • (informal, internet) To notify.
  • (label) To thrust (something) in a particular direction such as the tongue.
  • Derived terms
    {{der3, poke along , poke bonnet , poke box , poke fun , toepoke}}

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US, slang) A lazy person; a dawdler.
  • (US, slang) A stupid or uninteresting person.
  • (Bartlett)
  • (US) A device to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences, consisting of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward.
  • (computing) The storage of a value in a memory address, typically to modify the behaviour of a program or to cheat at a video game.
  • * 1988 , "Lloyd Mangram", Forum'' (in ''Crash magazine issue 54, July 1988)
  • Perhaps all those super hackers who so regularly produce infinite lives etc. could produce pokes to be used by 128K users.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) poke, whence pocket

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • * c. 1386 , , The Canterbury Tales'', ''The Miller's Prologue and Tale :
  • Gerveys answerde, “Certes, were it gold,
    Or in a poke nobles alle untold,
    Thou sholdest have, as I am trewe smyth.
  • * c. 1599 , , As You Like It , act 2, scene 7:
  • And then he drew a dial from his poke ,
    And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
    Says very wisely, ‘It is ten o'clock…’
  • * 1605 , , Remaines Concerning Brittaine'', 1629 edition, ''Proverbes , page 276:
  • When the Pig is proffered, hold vp the poke .
  • * 1627 , , Minor Poems of Michael Drayton'', 1907 edition, poem ''Nimphidia :
  • And suddainly vntyes the Poke ,
    Which out of it sent such a smoke,
    As ready was them all to choke,
    So greeuous was the pother [...].
  • * 1814 , September 4, The Examiner'', volume 13, number 349, article ''French Fashions , page 573:
  • … and as to shape , a nightmare has as much. Under the poke and the muff-box, the face sometimes entirely disappears …
  • * 1946 , Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues , Payback Press 1999, p. 91:
  • In the summertime they'd reach out and snatch your straw hat right off your head, and if you were fool enough to go after it your poke was bound to be lighter when you came out.
  • * 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 138:
  • She did not eat blood-oranges. Her maw gived her one in a poke and she was going to throw it in the bin, Oh it is all black.
  • A long, wide sleeve; a poke sleeve.
  • (Scotland, Northern Ireland) An ice cream cone.
  • Derived terms
    * buy a pig in a poke * pocket

    Etymology 3

    Either a shortening of, or from the same source as, (quod vide).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dialectal) Pokeweed.
  • Synonyms

    * see the list at (pokeweed)

    touch

    English

    Verb

    (es)
  • Primarily physical senses.
  • # (label) To make physical contact with; to bring the hand, finger or other part of the body into contact with.
  • # (label) To come into (involuntary) contact with; to meet or intersect.
  • # (label) To come into physical contact, or to be in physical contact.
  • # (label) To make physical contact with a thing.
  • # (label) To physically disturb; to interfere with, molest, or attempt to harm through contact.
  • #* (Bible), (w) xxvi. 28, 29
  • Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee.
  • # (label) To physically affect in specific ways implied by context.
  • # (label) To consume, or otherwise use.
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • # (label) Of a ship or its passengers: to land, to make a short stop (at).
  • #* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick) :
  • Now a certain grand merchant ship once touched at Rokovoko, and its commander — from all accounts, a very stately punctilious gentleman, at least for a sea captain — this commander was invited to the wedding feast of Queequeg's sister, a pretty young princess just turned of ten.
  • #
  • #* 1971 , , Religion and the Decline of Magic , Folio Society (2012), page 189:
  • But in fact the English kings of the seventeenth century usually began to touch form the day of their accession, without waiting for any such consecration.
  • #
  • # To fasten; to take effect; to make impression.
  • #* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Strong waters pierce metals, and will touch' upon gold, that will not ' touch upon silver.
  • # (label) To bring (a sail) so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  • # To be brought, as a sail, so close to the wind that its weather leech shakes.
  • # (label) To keep the ship as near (the wind) as possible.
  • Primarily non-physical senses.
  • # (label) To imbue or endow with a specific quality.
  • #
  • #*, I.2.4.vii:
  • Next to sorrow still I may annex such accidents as procure fear; for besides those terrors which I have before touched ,which much trouble many of us.
  • # (label) To deal with in speech or writing; briefly to speak or write (on'' or ''upon something).
  • #* 1886 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde)
  • "Well, but since we have touched upon this business, and for the last time I hope," continued the doctor, "there is one point I should like you to understand."
  • # (label) To concern, to have to do with.
  • #* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , (w) V:
  • Men of Israhell take hede to youreselves what ye entende to do as touchinge these men.
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}
  • #* 1919 , (Saki), ‘The Penance’, The Toys of Peace , Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 423:
  • And now it seemed he was engaged in something which touched them closely, but must be hidden from their knowledge.
  • # (label) To affect emotionally; to bring about tender or painful feelings in.
  • #
  • #
  • # (label) To obtain money from, usually by borrowing (from a friend).
  • #
  • # (label) To be on the level of; to approach in excellence or quality.
  • #* 1928 , , "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers", in (Lord Peter Views the Body) ,
  • There was his mistress, Maria Morano. I don't think I've ever seen anything to touch her, and when you work for the screen [as I do] you're apt to have a pretty exacting standard of female beauty.
  • #* 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  • On Sunday afternoon it was as dark as night, with barely room for two riders abreast on a gradient that touches 20%.
  • # To mark (a file or document) as having been modified.
  • To try; to prove, as with a touchstone.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I mean to touch your love indeed.
  • To mark or delineate with touches; to add a slight stroke to with the pencil or brush.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • The lines, though touched but faintly, are drawn right.
  • (label) To infect; to affect slightly.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To strike; to manipulate; to play on.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • [They] touched their golden harps.
  • To perform, as a tune; to play.
  • * Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet.
  • To influence by impulse; to impel forcibly.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • No decree of mine,[to] touch with lightest moment of impulse his free will.

    Derived terms

    * touch a nerve * touch base * touch bottom * touch down * touch off * touch on * touch the hem of someone's garment * touch up * touch wood

    Noun

    (es)
  • An act of touching, especially with the hand or finger.
  • Suddenly, in the crowd, I felt a touch at my shoulder.
  • The faculty or sense of perception by physical contact.
  • With the lights out, she had to rely on touch to find her desk.
  • The style or technique with which one plays a musical instrument.
  • He performed one of Ravel's piano concertos with a wonderfully light and playful touch .
  • A distinguishing feature or characteristic.
  • Clever touches like this are what make her such a brilliant writer.
  • A little bit; a small amount.
  • Move it left just a touch and it will be perfect.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Madam, I have a touch of your condition.
  • The part of a sports field beyond the touchlines or goal-lines.
  • He got the ball, and kicked it straight out into touch .
  • A relationship of close communication or understanding.
  • He promised to keep in touch while he was away.
  • The ability to perform a task well; aptitude.
  • I used to be a great chess player but I've lost my touch .
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 29 , author=Jon Smith , title=Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Rovers' hopes of pulling off one of the great European shocks of all time lasted just 10 minutes before Spurs finally found their scoring touch .}}
  • Act or power of exciting emotion.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Not alone / The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches , / Do strongly speak to us.
  • An emotion or affection.
  • * Hooker
  • a true, natural, and a sensible touch of mercy
  • Personal reference or application.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Speech of touch toward others should be sparingly used.
  • A single stroke on a drawing or a picture.
  • * Dryden
  • Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design.
  • A brief essay.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Print my preface in such form as, in the booksellers' phrase, will make a sixpenny touch .
  • A touchstone; hence, stone of the sort used for touchstone.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Now do I play the touch .
  • * Fuller
  • a neat new monument of touch and alabaster
  • Examination or trial by some decisive standard; test; proof; tried quality.
  • * Carew
  • equity, the true touch of all laws
  • * Shakespeare
  • friends of noble touch
  • The particular or characteristic mode of action, or the resistance of the keys of an instrument to the fingers.
  • a heavy touch''', or a light '''touch
  • The broadest part of a plank worked top and but, or of one worked anchor-stock fashion (that is, tapered from the middle to both ends); also, the angles of the stern timbers at the counters.
  • The children's game of tag.
  • Derived terms

    * common touch * in touch * light touch * lose one's touch * lose touch * out of touch * soft touch * touch football * touch-kick * touchless * touch oneself * touch-paper * touch piece * touch-type

    Statistics

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