Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who hunts or fishes illegally: Someone who takes game or fish from private land or protected areas without permission or in violation of laws.
   • A cooking vessel for poaching: A pan, typically with an insert or cups, designed for cooking food gently in simmering liquid.
   • A type of fish: A small, slender marine fish (family Agonidae) covered in bony plates, found in northern Pacific waters.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Illegal Hunter/Fisher):

  • The landowner caught a poacher setting traps on his property.
  • Wildlife rangers work to stop poachers from killing endangered elephants.

• Noun (Cooking Vessel):

  • She placed the eggs into the poacher to cook them for breakfast.
  • A fish poacher is a long, narrow pan with a rack.

• Noun (Fish):

  • The poacher is a bottom-dwelling fish adapted to cold waters.

Advanced Usage

• "Egg poacher": A specific type of pan with indentations for cooking individual eggs.

  • He used an egg poacher to make perfect eggs Benedict.

• Conceptual use: Metaphorically used for someone who improperly takes something that belongs to another.

  • The rival company was accused of being a talent poacher, hiring away our best employees.

Variants and Related Words

• Poach (verb): The action for which a poacher is named.
  • To cook in simmering liquid. Poach the salmon in white wine.
  • To hunt or fish illegally. It is a crime to poach deer out of season.
  • To trespass for game. They were fined for poaching on the royal estate.
• Poaching (noun): The act or practice of hunting/fishing illegally or cooking via poaching.

Synonyms

• For the person: Illegal hunter, game thief, trespasser.
• For the vessel: Poaching pan, egg cooker.
• For the fish: (No common synonyms; it is a specific zoological name).

Related Phrases

• "Poacher turned gamekeeper" (Idiom): A person who has switched from breaking the rules to enforcing them.
  • As a former hacker now working in cybersecurity, he's a true poacher turned gamekeeper.

Noun

1. small slender fish (to 8 inches) with body covered by bony plates; chiefly of deeper northern Pacific waters
2. a cooking vessel designed to poach food (such as fish or eggs)
3. someone who hunts or fishes illegally on the property of another