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to poke one's head

to poke one's head

4.6
To put your head forward through an opening to look
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : asomarse
  • As he stood on tiptoe, he poked his head over the fence to get a better view of the game.

Examples

  • I seen a slithering, black monster poke its head up out of the water.

  • She poked her head out of the window to see what was happening on the street.

  • Poke your head inside... - check if he's been naughty or nice...

  • And then I saw you poke your head out of that crate and I said to myself, "Dora!"

  • He progressed, and walked up to the door of this thing, which was situated somewhere about here, and put his hand on the side of the door, and poked his head in, saw that there were some flashing lights like on a computer.

  • The cat poked its head through the opening in the box, curious about its surroundings.

Synonyms

to poke out
vsto poke one's head
16 3.5

To stick out from something like a wall or table

is specifically about pushing forward through an opening to look or get attention
to poke into
vsto poke one's head
  • Informal
1 5.2

To go into a place for a short time to look around

is specifically about pushing forward through an opening to look or get attention

Antonyms

1.0

To keep something so others cannot see or understand it

466 2.8

To stop taking part in a place or activity

How Far

to poke one's head
4.6
to peek
119 1.1

Surface Forms

poke one's head infinitive
poked one's head past participle
poking one's head present participle
pokes one's head third person singular

Morphology

poke + one + head

The meaning is directly compositional: 'poke' (push/prod) applied to 'one's head' describes literally pushing or thrusting the head forward, so a learner who knows the words can infer the action. This is a common, literal motion construction found across many languages (e.g., Spanish 'asomar la cabeza'), making it immediately understandable at B1 level.

Etymology

Poke one's head comes from the simple action of poking your head forward through a small gap to 'look' or 'get attention'. Imagine someone quickly poking their head around a door to see, so the phrase now means to look or show yourself for a short time.