Meaning & use
poacher
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who illegally hunts or catches animals or fish, especially on someone else's land or in protected areas.
Grammar: Often linked to endangered animals: elephant poachers.
Patterns
- poachers of something
Rangers arrested two poachers carrying ivory.
The landowner caught a poacher setting traps.
Poachers have nearly wiped out the local rhino population.
nouncountable
A shallow pan with cups for cooking eggs gently in steam or hot water.
Grammar: Kitchen equipment sense: an egg poacher.
Patterns
- an egg poacher
She cooked four eggs in the poacher.
The old egg poacher sat on the top shelf.
He bought a stainless steel poacher for brunch.
nouncountablefigurativeinformal
A person or business that unfairly lures staff or customers away from a rival.
Grammar: Figurative: a talent poacher.
Patterns
- a poacher of something
The rival firm was accused of being a poacher of talent.
He was a notorious poacher of clients.
The club became known as a poacher of young players.
Word forms
| plural | poachers |
|---|
Common combinations
- arrest a poacher
- Rangers arrested a poacher near the river.
- ivory poacher
- The ivory poacher was caught at the border.
- egg poacher
- The egg poacher made perfect eggs.
- poacher turned gamekeeper
- A poacher turned gamekeeper, he now protects the forest.
- game poacher
- The game poacher fled across the field.
Synonyms and how they differ
- trespasser
- A trespasser simply enters land without permission, and need not hunt anything.
- hunter
- Hunter is neutral and may be fully legal, whereas poacher always means illegal hunting.
- raider
- Raider is broader and means taking things by force, not just animals.
- thief
- Thief takes anything illegally, while poacher is limited to wildlife.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: poacher or poachers?
poacher vs poachers
In the plural, readers sometimes picture only kitchen tools, so use the context to tell the hunters from the pans.
Practice
The rangers set cameras along the river to catch ___ who were hunting protected animals.
Choose one answer.
Poachers illegally hunt wildlife. Pioneers, pilgrims and porters are real people-words but none of them hunts illegally.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “poacher”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.