The Collaborative International Dictionary
Poke \Poke\, n.
The act of poking; a thrust; a jog; as, a poke in the ribs.
--Ld. Lytton.A lazy person; a dawdler; also, a stupid or uninteresting person. [Slang, U.S.]
--Bartlett.-
A contrivance to prevent an animal from leaping or breaking through fences. It consists of a yoke with a pole inserted, pointed forward. [U.S.]
Poke bonnet, a bonnet with a straight, projecting front.
Wiktionary
n. A woman's bonnet in the shape of a hood, featuring a projecting rim on the front side for the purpose of shading the face.
WordNet
n. a hat tied under the chin [syn: bonnet]
Wikipedia
A poke bonnet (sometimes also referred to as a Neapolitan bonnet) is a women's bonnet, featuring a small crown and wide and rounded front brim. Typically this extends beyond the face. It has been suggested that the name came about because the bonnet was designed in such a way that the wearer's hair could be contained within the bonnet. Poke may also refer to the brim itself, which jutted out beyond the wearer's face.
Usage examples of "poke bonnet".
Miss Heliotrope's black poke bonnet with itsnodding purple feathers always seemed to look larger and more imposingthan usual on Sundays, perhaps because of the increased solemnity ofher face inside it, but today it was almost eclipsed in majesty by SirBenjamin's Sunday hat, an enormous mulberry colored tricorne affair thesize of a cartwheel, that sat very insecurely upon the top of his whitepowdered wig, with a tendency to slip rakishly over his left eyewhenever the carriage jolted.
We didn't even have the chance of a lusty farewell, for when she came to say good-bye the ugly Mrs Payne was on hand to see fair play, with Cassy looking uncommonly demure and rather uncomfortable in a drab brown gown and poke bonnet.
She wore homespun and a poke bonnet, and as they drew closer to the marker, Susannah saw she was blind, and that the accident which had taken her sight must have been exceedingly horrible.
Jean Mitchell was dressed as Madeleine Smith, in crinoline and poke bonnet, and looked quite charming enough to deserve all the attentions that were being poured out on her.
The child's mother, a rosy-cheeked matron in a gingham dress and poke bonnet, slapped at the boy, shrugging apologetically at Ryan.