Poke vs Wobble - What's the difference?

Poke is a related term of wobble.

As verbs the difference between poke and wobble

is that poke is to prod or jab with a pointed object such as a finger or a stick while wobble is to move with an uneven or rocking motion, or unsteadily to and fro.

As nouns the difference between poke and wobble

is that poke is (us|slang) a lazy person; a dawdler or poke can be or poke can be (dialectal) pokeweed while wobble is an unsteady motion.

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)

wobble

English

Noun

(en noun)

An unsteady motion.

The fat man walked down the street with a wobble .

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=October 29 , author=Neil Johnston , title=Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=That should have been that, but Hart caught a dose of the Hennessey wobbles and spilled Adlene Guedioura's long-range shot.}}

A tremulous sound.

There was a wobble on her high notes.

(music) A low-frequency oscillation sometimes used in dubstep

Synonyms

* (unsteady motion ): jiggle, quiver, shake, tremble * (tremulous sound ): quaver, tremble, tremolo, vibrato

Verb

(wobbl)

To move with an uneven or rocking motion, or unsteadily to and fro.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}

To tremble or quaver.

To vacillate in one's opinions.

To cause to wobble.

Synonyms

* (move with an uneven or rocking motion ): judder, shake, shudder, tremble * (quaver ): quaver, quiver, tremble * (vacillate ): falter, vacillate, waffle, waver * (cause to wobble ): jiggle, rock, shake, wiggle

Derived terms

* wobbler * wobbly