To boil slightly.

To dress by boiling slightly and mixing in a soft mass.

To begin and not complete.

To tread soft ground, or snow and water, as cattle, whose feet penetrate the soil of soft substance and leave deep tracks.

To steal game; properly, to pocket game, or steal it and convey it away in a bag.

To steal; to plunder by stealth. They poach Parnassus, and lay claim for praise.

To stab; to pierce; to spear; as, to poach fish.

To be trodden with deep tracks, as soft ground. We say, the ground is soft in spring, and poaches badly. Chalky and clay lands burn in hot weather, chap in summer, and poach in winter.