From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpoachpoach /pəʊtʃ $ poʊtʃ/ verb 1 cook [transitive] a) DFCto cook an egg in or over gently boiling water, without its shell poached eggs on toast b) DFCto gently cook food, especially fish, in a small amount of boiling water, milk etc Poach the salmon in white wine and water.► see thesaurus at cook2 animals [intransitive, transitive]SCC to illegally catch or shoot animals, birds, or fish, especially on private land without permission Deer have been poached here for years.3 people [transitive] to persuade someone who belongs to another organization, team etc to leave it and join yours, especially in a secret or dishonest way That company’s always poaching our staff.poach from Several of their reporters were poached from other papers.4 steal ideas [transitive] to take and use someone else’s ideas unfairly or illegallypoach from characters poached from Shakespeare5 → poach on somebody’s territory/preserve —poaching noun [uncountable] the poaching of elephants for their ivory tusks→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
poach• But the Gulf of California is closer than you think, and currently under assault by everything from pollution to poaching.• Companies in the survey were asked if they used any mechanisms to protect themselves against poaching by other businesses employing headhunters.• Third, the ground must be well drained to prevent it being poached by the animals.• In the New World preachers felt free to encroach and poach in search of souls.• Volkswagen poached Lopez from GM in 1993.• They no longer poach pigeons in public parks.• The chicken was poached with basil and pepper.From Longman Business Dictionarypoachpoach /pəʊtʃpoʊtʃ/ verb [intransitive, transitive]1HUMAN RESOURCESto persuade someone to leave an organization and come and work for youWall Street firms have always poached each other’s star brokers.poach fromWe prefer not to poach from other firms.2to unfairly or illegally use someone else’s ideasThey were accused of poaching another agency’s ideas.poach froma concept poached from their main rival —poaching noun [uncountable]There is still some poaching between the major executive search firms.→ See Verb tableOrigin poach 1. (1400-1500) Old French pochier, from poche “bag, pocket”2. (1600-1700) Old French pocher 