Synonyms

poaching

American

[poh-ching] / ˈpoʊ tʃɪŋ /

noun

the illegal practice of trespassing on another's property to hunt or steal game without the landowner's permission.
any encroachment on another's property, rights, ideas, or the like.

Other Word Forms

antipoaching adjective

Etymology

Origin of poaching

First recorded in 1605–15; poach ² + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr’s reborn French restaurant in New York, instead of poaching the meringue they bake it before service in a low-temp oven for a miraculously brisk seven minutes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Meta has also struggled to establish itself as a top AI player compared to competitors such as Google, Anthropic and OpenAI, despite aggressively poaching top talent to form Meta Superintelligence Labs last summer.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

In Mozambique between 2010 and 2023, 426 lions were killed as a result of contact with humans with a quarter linked to deliberate poaching.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

Kruger had noted a link between failed polygraph tests on its rangers and a surge in poaching, with follow-up investigations resulting in the dismissal of seven staff, it said.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

Someone was poaching, and he might be along in a minute to collect his prize.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023