level peggingn.adv.
/ˌlɛvl ˈpɛɡɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌlɛvəl ˈpɛɡɪŋ/ On equal terms (competitively), neck and neck, neither falling behind nor getting ahead (used of two individuals, groups, etc.). Also (as a back-formation) level-peg v.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [noun] > a contest or competition > viewed in terms of equality of parties > equality in a contest
tie1736
level pegging1927
1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 30 Cribbage is scored with pegs on a triangular board with two rows of holes on each side and supplied us with the technical expressions: level pegging or neck and neck (from the racecourse), [etc.].
1959 Motor 16 Dec. 704/1 Two competitors..[one of which] lost one less mark than [the other] on the fourth section which was the first section on which they were not level pegging.
1962 Listener 13 Dec. 1027/2 The sociologist is level-pegging with the psychologist to replace the priest in the cure-of-souls business.
1965 Observer 28 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 16 While air and sea were roughly level-pegging at a million passengers each in 1958, last year's split was 3·5 million to the airlines and 714,000 to the sea.
1973 J. Wainwright Touch of Malice 155 They were level-pegging—in rank, in age and in service.
1974 Listener 21 Feb. 244/2 ITV first made the running in the coverage of election news... Initiative reverting to the BBC? Let's call it level pegging.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adv.1927