poke around

phrasal verb

poked around; poking around; pokes around

informal

: to look around or search through something

He poked around in his closet for something to wear to the party.

—often used figuratively

I don't want you poking around in my personal life.

Examples of poke around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Washington lost interest in the region — until China started poking around. —

Eduardo Porter, Washington Post, 20 June 2024 But that can’t prevent the Giants from doing their homework, ranking their preferences and poking around with other teams. —

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 1 Apr. 2024 So, poke around to see what could work for your family. —

Carly Caramanna, Parents, 15 June 2024 Salinas snapped on blue surgical gloves, poked around the dash and took pictures. —

Rick Jervis, The Courier-Journal, 31 May 2024 When one flight landed in Havana, no one greeted the passengers, so the officers poked around the airport for three hours before finally being whisked away. —

Sergey Radchenko, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2023 Or poke around on social media for upcoming events. —

James Gorman, New York Times, 26 May 2024 Plus, the adjoining gift shop is just plain fun to poke around before or after your meal. —

Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024 All this poking around gives you points that increase your rank. —

PCMAG, 30 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'poke around.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.