poach
UK[pəʊtʃ]US[poʊtʃ]
v
To cook something, especially fish or an egg without its shell, in or over gently boiling water or other liquid.
v
To illegally catch or shoot animals, birds, or fish on someone else's land or without permission.
v
To take or use something in a dishonest way that rightly belongs to someone else, especially an idea, plan, or a member of staff.
Etymology
The verb 'poach' entered Middle English from the Old French 'pochier', meaning "to poke, thrust, or enclose in a bag." This culinary sense likely arose from the idea of cooking eggs within a confined pouch of liquid. The hunting sense, which emerged later, also connects to the original idea of "thrusting into" or encroaching upon another's property. The semantic thread linking the cooking and illegal hunting meanings is the concept of intrusion—whether an egg's contents are intruded upon by hot water or a hunter intrudes upon private land.
Analysis
The modern English word 'poach' is a simplex form derived from a French root. It is not productively segmented into smaller, meaningful morphemes within modern English spelling.
Examples
She taught me how to poach an egg perfectly.
He was arrested for attempting to poach deer from the royal park.
The rival company is known to poach talented engineers with lucrative offers.