poach

noun

The act of cooking in simmering liquid.

1. To cook something in simmering liquid.
2. To be cooked in simmering liquid
3. To become soft or muddy.
4. To make soft or muddy.

   Cattle coming to drink had punched and poached the river bank into a mess of mud.

5. To stab; to pierce; to spear, as fish.
6. To force, drive, or plunge into anything.
7. To begin and not complete.

noun

The act of taking something unfairly, as in tennis doubles where one player returns a shot that their partner was better placed to return.

1. To take game or fish illegally.
2. To take anything illegally or unfairly.
3. To entice (an employee or customer) to switch from a competing company to one's own.