peachn.1adj.
/piːtʃ/, U.S. /pitʃ/ A. n.1
I. Literal uses.
1. The tree Prunus persica (family Rosaceae), having lanceolate leaves and pink flowers, native to China (possibly as a cultigen) and widely grown in warm-temperate countries, chiefly for its fruit (see sense A. 2); = peach tree n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > peach-tree
peacha1400
peach treea1425
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 83 Þe ius of þe leeues of pechis.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) v. 122 (MED) Peches han their seson At May Kalendes hem tenoculate.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 252/2 Peache, tree, peschier.
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) iii. i. 335 The principall fruit trees which delight to be planted against a wall are peaches, abricots, nectaryas [sic], all sorts of sweet plumbs.
1667 A. Cowley Garden x, in J. Wells Poems Divers Occasions sig. ¶7v He bids the rustick plum to rear A nobler Trunk and be a Peach.
a1706 J. Evelyn Direct. for Gardiner (1932) 65 Some kinds of peaches produce excellent Fruit from the stone..as peach de pau.
1796 C. Marshall Gardening (1813) xvii. 284 Peach..succeeds better than the nectarine, as to bearing and ripening.
1852 Johnson's Gardener's Dict. 688/1 Do not brush off the foliage of peaches in the autumn.
1859 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1857–8 3 492 In budding the apple, the pear, and the peach, we take out the wood.
1924 Farmers' Bull. No. 1435. 2 Bacterial spot is an orchard disease which affects fruits, twigs, and leaves of the peach.
1990 Garden Answers Nov. 30/2 Apples, pears, plums and peaches can all be grown as dwarf pyramids, which is also a suitable form for trees in pots.
2. The fruit of the tree Prunus persica (see sense A. 1), which is a large, round drupe cultivated in many varieties, usually having a downy yellow skin flushed with red, a sweet, fragrant pulp, and a rough, furrowed stone.The varieties are classed as clingstone or freestone according as the pulp adheres to or separates easily from the stone. The nectarine is a variety with smooth skin.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > stone fruit > [noun] > peach
peacha1425
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > peach
peacha1425
Isabella1664
peachlet1877
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 1374 Many homly trees ther were That peches, coynes, and apples beere.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 388 Peche, or peske, frute, pesca, pomum Percicum.
1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 12 Cheryes..strawberies..Pesshes medliers.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth xxi. sig. K.iiv Peches doeth mollyfy the bely, and be colde.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 93 The veluet Peach, guilt Orenge, downie Quince.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 114 Peaches and Aprecocks are of one and the same nature.
1699 E. Ward London Spy I. xi. 4 The Baskets of..Peaches, began now to be handed about.
1730 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons 158 The downy peach; the purple plumb,..the ruddy nectarine.
1791 Dunlap's Amer. Daily Advertiser 1 Jan. 3/4 Margaret Trotter, In Elfrith's alley, fourth door from Second-street, prepares and sells all kinds of pickles, viz. Walnuts, Mangoes, Poke-melons, Cucumbers, Peppers, Beans and Peaches.
1803 W. Forsyth Treat. Fruit-trees (ed. 2) iii. 55 I have often heard of Peaches and Nectarines growing on the same tree.
1884 M. E. Braddon Ishmael xxxvi A gray velvet bodice that fitted the plump, supple figure, as the rind fits the peach.
1902 O. Wister Virginian i. 4 The weather-beaten bloom of his face shone through it duskily, as the ripe peaches look upon their trees in a dry season.
1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Jan. 48/1 I will serve a large fresh-fruit compote of prune plums and peaches cooked together in red wine and flavored with mint.
3. With distinguishing word: any of various other plants with leaves or edible fruits thought to resemble those of the peach; (also) the fruit of any of these plants.Guinea, native, Sierra Leone, wild peach, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > other tropical or exotic fruit-trees or -plants
tamarind1614
star apple1693
seven-year apple1731
wild mangosteen1753
peach1760
ackee1792
Java plum1829
abiu1834
jambu1834
jakkalsbessie1854
calabash-nutmeg1866
jambolan1866
Chinese gooseberry1925
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 322 Peach, Wolf's, Solanum.
1831 M. Holley Texas (1833) 50 The leaves resemble those of the peach tree. Hence it is called by the colonists, wild peach.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1020/1 S[arcocephalus] esculentus has pink flowers and an edible fruit, of the size of a peach, whence it has been called the Sierra Leone Peach.
1901 C. T. Mohr Plant Life Alabama 552 Mock Orange. Laurel Cherry. Wild Peach.
1965 D. Martin Hero of Too 4 The Quandongs, well-named after a small tree which abounds there and produces a rather bitter fruit, the native peach.
1998 New Scientist 7 Feb. 93/3 Also known as the wild peach, this widely distributed bush tree [sc. the quandong] requires a host tree to survive and fruits annually.
II. Extended uses.† 5. U.S. Short for peach brandy n. at Compounds 2. Obsolete.
4. colloquial. A particularly fine or desirable person or thing, esp. an attractive young woman; an exceptionally good example of its kind.
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the mind > attention and judgement > attractiveness > [noun] > attractive person > woman
morsela1450
honeypot1618
enchantera1704
peach1710
enchantress1713
sparkler1713
enslaver1728
witch1740
fascinatress1799
honey1843
biscuit1855
fairy1862
baby1863
scorcher1881
cracker1891
peacherino1896
hot tamale1897
mink1899
hotty?1913
babe1915
a bit of skirt1916
cookie1917
tomato1918
snuggle-pup1922
nifty1923
brahma1925
package1931
ginch1934
blonde bombshell1942
beast1946
smasher1948
a bit of crackling1949
nymphet1955
nymphette1961
fox1963
beaver1968
superbabe1970
brick house1977
nubile1977
yummy mummy1993
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1710 C. Johnson Love in Chest iii. 63 Come my little Dear, sweet, soft, blushing Peach.
1754 E. Turner Let. 16 Aug. in L. Dickins & M. Stanton 18th-Cent. Corr. (1910) 238 I had almost forgot that orange Peach, your Niece.
1863 B. Harte in Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 9 Dec. 5/3 Phrases such as camps may teach,..Such as ‘Bully!’ ‘Them's the Peach!’
1888 Puck (N.Y.) 22 Feb. 415/2 An' two young darters—one eighteen. A reg'ler peach.
1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill iv. 111 I..landed a hard right on the side of his jaw and dropped him just like that. It was one peach I handed him and he slumped down like a sack of mush.
1943 E. B. White Let. 1 Jan. (1976) 236 You were a peach to give me such a good present.
1977 D. Francis Risk xiv. 179 Dad's brought the detestable Lida... Actually I would have liked it..if he'd fallen for a peach.
1997 Sporting Life 15 Feb. 36/2 My fancy..is the four-time course winner Bell's Life who was given a peach of a ride by Glenn Tormey here two weeks ago.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > brandy > [noun] > brandy not from grapes > peach-brandy
peach brandy1711
peach1809
1809 M. L. Weems Life Gen. F. Marion viii. 74 Suppose you take a glass of Peach.
1821 J. A. Quitman in J. F. H. Claiborne Life & Corr. (1860) I. 69 He invited me to ‘peach and honey’—something I had never tasted before.
1845 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Capt. Simon Suggs v. 53 Thar's koniac, and old peach, and rectified.
1880 Barman's Man. 55 Peach and Honey, one table-spoonful of honey; one wine-glass of peach brandy. Stir with a spoon.
6. = peach colour n. and adj. at Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink
incarnationa1475
carnation?1533
peach colour1573
maiden's blush1598
maiden blush1600
flesh-colour1611
gridelinc1640
incarnadine1661
pinka1669
peach bloom1716
pompadour1761
rose pink1772
salmon-colour1813
orange-pink1820
peachiness1820
maiden rose1827
pinkiness1828
peach-blow1829
peach1831
pink madder1835
flesh-tint1839
pinkness1840
rose du Barry1847
flesh1852
almond1872
ash of roses1872
nymph-pink1872
rose Pompadour1872
salmon1873
pinkishness1874
mushroom1884
salmon-pink1884
naturelle1887
shell-pink1887
sunrise1890
sultan pink1899
mushroom colour1900
sunblush1925
flesh tone1931
magnolia1963
1831 G. Henson Civil Hist. Framework-knitters iv. 169 Many colours were then worn which are now laid aside, such as white, pea green, pompadour, yellow, peach, and almost every other colour, now only worn by women.
1882 Garden 16 Sept. 260/1 Blooms of..rosy peach.
1900 London Lett. 26 Jan. 133/1 Outlined in varying shades of roses from palest peach to deepest puce.
1986 House & Garden July 31 (advt.) It was hand-painted in peach.
7. peaches and cream n.
a. A fair complexion characterized by creamy skin with downy pink cheeks. Usually attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > pink and whiteness > [noun]
milk and rosesa1637
peaches and cream1893
1893 E. Saltus Madam Sapphira vi. 81 Seated at the table was a young woman of that type of blonde beauty... Whether or not this projection of peaches and cream into the privacy of the library caused Nevius pleasure or displeasure, not even a lady who was eyeing him could decide.
1901 G. Ade 40 Mod. Fables 188 Give me some perfumed Dope that will restore a Peaches and Cream Complexion.
1969 ‘J. Ashford’ Prisoner at Bar vii. 62 She had the perfect peaches-and-cream beauty that was often called classical English.
1985 T. Jones Skin Deep v. 53 Her peaches-and-cream complexion flushed rose pink.
b. figurative. Originally U.S. A fine, easy, or delightful thing; a highly pleasant state of affairs.
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the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > quality of causing joy or delight > [noun] > an instance or source of joy or delight
playeOE
mirthOE
blissa1000
winOE
sunbeamc1175
delight?c1225
joyc1275
delightingc1350
joying1388
delicec1390
delectation?a1425
rejoice1445
delectabilitiesa1500
deliciositiesa1500
delectables1547
delicacy1586
venery1607
deliciousness1651
thrilling1747
peaches and cream1920
1920 J. Emery in Idaho Yarn 8 Oct. 2/1 Everything was peaches and cream, as they say down in Georgia, until Joe lost his girl.
1926 L. Hart Mountain Greenery 7 I'll have new dimples before I'm older;—But life is peaches and cream.
1981 C. Smythe If you can't beat 'em in Alley x. 199 My relations with Stafford were by no means all peaches and cream.
2002 Washington Post 11 Feb. (Home ed.) d6/1 You have to handle it like a man and understand everything's not always going to be peaches and cream.
B. adj.
Having a colour resembling that of ripe peaches, or peach blossom; = peach-coloured adj. at Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > pale red or pink
incarnatea1533
fleshy1555
incarnation1562
pallet1565
peach1583
bepurfurate1584
blush1597
carnation1598
peachy1599
peach-coloured1600
pink-coloured1600
incarnadine1605
pink1607
blush-coloured1626
blushy1626
gridelin1652
carnationeda1658
pinky1661
carneous1673
peach blossom1702
flesh-coloured1703
flesh-colour1711
mushroom-coloured1770
salmon-coloured1776
pinkish1785
salmon1786
blush-tinted1818
flesh-red1819
naturelle1873
flesh-pink1882
lilac-pink1882
pinksome1913
nude1922
magnolia-pink1931
salmony1935
magnolia1963
1583 in C. L. Kingsford Rep. MSS Ld. de I'Isle & Dudley (1925) I. 289 A chaire of peache clothe of tyssue.
1813 Valuable Sales Eng. Goods 7 Leno Japan Dresses 4l9..2 Peach Field do. 15s.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxvii. 376 The diamonds, or the peach-velvet bonnet.
1900 London Lett. 26 Jan. 133/1 Pleatings of white chiffon edged with peach ruches.
1933 N. Woln House of Exile i. iii. 40 Pyjamas of peach silk.
1986 Lydney Observer 12 Sept. 4/2 The flowers were peach gladioli, white spray carnations and peach alstromeria and grey anapholis foliage.
Compounds
C1.
a.
peach bud n.
ΚΠ
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities i. iii, in Wks. (1772) III. 72 A peach-bud does..change the sap that comes to it into a fruit very differing from that which the stock naturally produceth.
1831 L. E. Landon Improvisatrice 272 A cheek, whose crimson hues seemed caught From the first tint by April brought To the peach-bud.
2003 Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser (Nexis) 30 Apr. b8 The air temperature was about 2 degrees warmer, enough to keep the peach buds from dying.
peach flavour n.
ΚΠ
1742 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 4) I. 39 The Daucus Seed increased their Approbation by the fine Peach Flavour or Relish that it gives the Drink.
1865 C. C. Nott Sketches in Prison Camps (ed. 2) ix. 167 To get rid of their peach flavor, we soaked them and boiled them.
1996 Pulse 20 Apr. 15/5 (advt.) Clarityn Syrup—clear, colourless to light yellow syrup with a peach flavour, containing 5mg loratadine per 5ml.
peach flower n.
ΚΠ
1573 Treat. Arte of Limming f. 8v If you mingle Vermelion with Cereuse, by discretion you may make thereof a Peache flowre colour.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Persi fiore, peach flowres.
1797 New Ann. Reg. 1796 Poetry 165 Not the shade Ambrosial, waving its peach-flowers that blow To pearly grapes, and kiss the turf below.
1871 Mod. Scepticism (Christian Evidence Soc.) 227 Each [blossom] folded up a promise of what is richer than itself. The peach flower, the peach—the pear flower, the pear.
2003 New Straits Times (Malaysia) (Nexis) 9 Nov. 15 Peach flowers symbolise renewal in China.
peach kernel n.
ΚΠ
1711 tr. N. Lémery New Curiosities Art & Nature xiv. 264 Take Mustard-seed Half an Ounce, Castle-Soap Two Ounces, Peach Kernels One Ounce.
1850 De Bow's Rev. Sept. 289 [The water] is generally clarified with a little alum or peach kernels.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 232/1 Almond oil is adulterated with the closely allied oils from the peach-kernel or the pine-seed.
1996 D. W. Brown Aromatherapy (Teach Yourself Ser.) v. 36 Some suppliers may try to sell sweet almond oil as apricot kernel or peach kernel oil.
peach orchard n.
ΚΠ
1676 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 628 Here are likewise great Peach-Orchards, which bear..an infinite quantity of Peaches.
1758 in Cal. Virginia State Papers (1875) I. 257 We..overtook them at a peach orchard.
a1820 D. McClure Diary (1899) 68 Between the house & the bank of the River was a..peach orchard.
1999 New Eng. Q. 72 392 To enhance his picturesque setting, as well as to provide an agricultural base that would strengthen the economic viability of his venture, Tufts planted a peach orchard.
peach stone n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > peach > stone of
peach stone1580
peach pip1886
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Peschenoix, a Peach stone.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies i. li. 94/1 It hath within it a stone bigger then a Peach stone, but it is not good to be eaten.
1683 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 13 185 As Nuts and Peach-Stones &c. give way to the germinating Plant.
a1706 J. Evelyn Direct. for Gardiner (1932) 54 Set a Bed of peach-stones.
1815 Ld. Byron Let. 7 Jan. (1975) IV. 252 The cushions..were stuffed with Peach-stones I believe.
1995 P. Ilie Age of Minerva II. vi. 165 A pebble in the road and the stone of a peach appear equally mineral in their constitution, and yet only the peach stone can generate life.
b.
peach-fed adj.
ΚΠ
1861 J. Brown Horæ Subsecivæ II. 6 We are given to understand that peach-fed pork is a poor pork after all, and goes soon into decomposition.
1897 Cent. Mag. Apr. 853/1 They robbed my father boldly, before his eyes, of two fat Virginia peach-fed hams.
1999 I. Origo Images & Shadows i. i. 25 The menu would often include..such delicacies as..broiled Spanish mackerel, softshelled crabs and peach-fed Virginia hams cooked in champagne.
c.
peach-beige n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1927 Weekly Disp. 6 Nov. 10 The newest colours [for stockings]..are a deep peach-beige, light tan, and a soft grège shade something between a fawn and a grey.
1990 F. Starn Soup of Day iv. xxxvii. 142 She also smelled nice and was wearing unchipped peach-beige nail polish.
peach-green n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1953 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 16 150 He took as his style the name Tōei..or ‘Peach Green’, modeled on the name Li Po, which is literally ‘Plum White’.
1971 J. Drummond Farewell Party 8 A great sunset..a wash of peach-green that ran across the sky.
peach-pink n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1889 Garden & Forest 27 Feb. 102/2 The flowers, literally covering the plant, are of a lovely peach-pink colour.
1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond xiv. 171 Through the windows I saw the circle of the Circassian mountains, indigo and brown and peach-pink in the sunset.
1987 J. Barth Tidewater Tales (1988) 115 P.S...ambled across campus..thinking all the way about Katherine Shorter Sherritt of the egg-blue knickers and peach-pink knockers.
peach-red n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 288 Rubellite, Red Shorl of Siberia. Its colour, crimson, blood, or peach red.
1926 M. Leinster Dew on Leaf 114 My unborn son waits to clutch my heart-strings with peach-red fingers, with the call of flesh to flesh.
1991 P. C. Newman Merchant Princes xii. 325 Peering through the aircraft's humming shrouds, he noticed rocks smudged with the peach-red hues that indicated cobalt bloom.
C2. † peach-blister n. Obsolete = peach leaf curl n.
peach aphid n. (also peach aphis) an aphid infesting peach trees; esp. = peach-potato aphid n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Aphis > myzus persicae (peach aphid)
peach aphid1854
peach fly1865
peach-potato aphid1947
1854 Amer. Farmer's New & Universal Hand-bk. xiii. 541 There are particularly three species of aphides which are very destructive to fruit-trees, namely, the apple, plum, and peach aphides, Aphis pyri mali, Aphis pruni, and Aphis persicæ.
1926 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 13 653 The same quantity of peach aphids..was placed on 4 other healthy young aster plants in a second cage.
1998 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 67 770/2 Remigrants of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) will settle and larviposit only on Prunus spp., but the foundresses are able to form colonies on a range of herbaceous hosts.
peach-bells n. rare the peach-leaved bellflower, Campanula persicifolia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > bellflowers
bell-flower1578
bluebell1578
Canterbury bells1578
Coventry bells1578
Coventry Marians1578
Coventry rapes1578
fair-in-sight1578
gauntlet1578
haskwort1578
Marian's violet1578
throatwort1578
lady's looking glass1597
mariet1597
Mercury's violet1597
peach-bells1597
steeple bells1597
uvula-wort1597
Venus looking-glass1597
campanula1664
Spanish bell1664
corn-violet1665
rampion1688
Venus' glass1728
harebell1767
heath-bell1805
witch bell1808
slipperwort1813
meadow-bell1827
greygle1844
platycodon1844
lady's thimble1853
kikyo1884
witches' bells1884
balloon flower1901
fairy thimble1914
mountain bell1923
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 366 Of Peach bels, and Steeple bels.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Campanettes blanches, White Peach-bels, or Steeple-bell-flowers.
1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum (at cited word) Peach Bells, and Steple-Bells, see Bell-Flower.
1994 M. Griffiths Index Garden Plants 199/2 C[ampanula] persicifolia L. Willow bell; peach-bells.
peach black n. a black pigment made from calcined peach stones.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > blackening agent > [noun] > pigment
blackOE
lamp-black1598
charcoal-black1622
ivory-black1634
blue-black1665
bone black1665
Indian ink1665
India ink1700
smoke-black1712
China-ink1782
Frankfort black1823
almond black1835
Spanish black1839
gas black1841
abaiser1849
peach black1852
vine-black1860
carbon black1872
drop-black1879
aspergillin1891
1835 G. Field Chromatogr. Index 265 Black..Peach-stone.]
1852 C. Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts (1854) I. 316/1 Peach-black, from peach kernels..has a bluish tint.
1948 F. A. Staples Watercolour Painting (1951) i. 3 You will want to add the following to the palette: Raw Sienna,..New Blue and Peach Black.
1984 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 22 July vi. 16/1 Shelves are stocked with crayons and the paints she uses most: peach black, lamp black, vine black, alizarin blue.
peach blight n. brown rot of peaches, caused by the fungus Monilinia fructigena.
ΚΠ
1886 Bot. Gaz. 11 196 The principal obstacle to successful peach culture [in New Zealand] is the peach blight... The cause is not known, but it does not appear to be due to insects.
1933 Sci. Monthly July 6/2 The prevention of peach-leaf curl and California peach blight.
2002 Early Amer. Life Dec. 43/1 A peach blight ruined the village's other cash crop.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > fruit or fruit plants
leaf curl1850
fly-speck1855
vine-mildew1855
vine-fungus1857
leaf blister1858
blister1864
peach-blister1866
charbon1882
crown rot1888
melanose1888
plum pocket1888
peach leaf curl1890
brown rot1894
mummy1902
sooty blotch1909
rhubarb disease1911
spur blight1915
red core1936
sclerotinia1950
Sigatoka1958
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 854 Peach-blister, an affection to which peach-leaves are subject, the leaves becoming thick, bladdery, and curled.
1886 Bot. Gaz. 11 288 The report of the superintendent of grounds give much space to mildews, peach-leaf blister, peach yellow, [etc.].]
peach borer n. any of several insects whose larvae bore through the bark of peach trees (and certain other fruit trees); the larva of such an insect; spec. (a) = peach tree borer n. at peach tree n. Compounds; (b) a flat-headed borer (beetle), Dicerca divaricata (family Buprestidae).
ΚΠ
1850 New Eng. Farmer 6 July 222/2 Among those matters of interest..,the ‘peach-borer’, its ravages, and remedy, have occupied a prominent place.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 16/2 The Napoleon cherry had also been badly injured by the major peach borer.
1995 Augusta Chron. (Nexis) 18 Aug. a16 There is one insect pest you can almost count on to find your tree—the peach borer.
peach-brake n. U.S. regional a dense thicket of wild peach ( Prunus caroliniana).
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Peach-brake, in Texas, a dense growth of the so-called wild peach, there covering extensive tracts.
peach brandy n. brandy distilled from the fermented juice of peaches; a drink of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > brandy > [noun] > brandy not from grapes > peach-brandy
peach brandy1711
peach1809
1711 W. Byrd Diary 9 Sept. (1941) 403 After drinking two drams of peach brandy we returned to Mrs. Randolph's.
1814 W. Scott Diary 10 Aug. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) III. iv. 176 They could get from an American trader a bottle of peach-brandy or rum.
1976 J. McClure Rogue Eagle vii. 129 As peach brandy goes, this is among the best sluks I've ever tasted.
peach cobbler n. U.S. a cobbler (cobbler n. 4) made with peaches.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > prepared fruit and dishes > [noun] > peach dishes
peach cobbler1859
peach Melba1906
poached egg1925
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 90 Cobbler... According to the fruit, it is an apple or a peach cobbler.
1878 Scribner's Monthly Apr. 776/2 One must then feed one's friends on fried chickens and..‘peach cobbler’—a monstrous dish of pastry inclosing whole peaches, pits and all.
a1992 L. Colwin More Home Cooking (1993) xxv. 127 For dessert, the choices are endless: peach cobbler, apple crisp, brownies, bananas Foster.
peach colour n. and adj. (a) n. a soft, yellowish-pink colour resembling that of a ripe peach; (also) the rose-pink colour of peach blossom; †(b) adj. (with hyphen) = peach-coloured adj. (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink
incarnationa1475
carnation?1533
peach colour1573
maiden's blush1598
maiden blush1600
flesh-colour1611
gridelinc1640
incarnadine1661
pinka1669
peach bloom1716
pompadour1761
rose pink1772
salmon-colour1813
orange-pink1820
peachiness1820
maiden rose1827
pinkiness1828
peach-blow1829
peach1831
pink madder1835
flesh-tint1839
pinkness1840
rose du Barry1847
flesh1852
almond1872
ash of roses1872
nymph-pink1872
rose Pompadour1872
salmon1873
pinkishness1874
mushroom1884
salmon-pink1884
naturelle1887
shell-pink1887
sunrise1890
sultan pink1899
mushroom colour1900
sunblush1925
flesh tone1931
magnolia1963
1573 Treat. Arte of Limming f. 8v (margin) Peach color.
1594 P. Henslowe Diary 2 Sept. (1916) 35 A manes gowne of Pechecolor In grayne the 2 of septmbz 1594.
1600 Bk. of Robes f. 13, in J. Arnold Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (1988) 258 One Mantle of white net tufte with peache Colour silke and striped with silke.
1735 Dict. Polygraph. at Glass To make a Peach colour in Glass.
1920 H. Johnston Mrs. Warren's Daughter xvi. 287 Mrs. Warren was blanched with fear, her cheeks a dull peach colour.
1992 Wedding & Home (BNC) June 103 Liz chose silk dupion in a pale peach colour.
peach-coloured adj. of a colour resembling that of ripe peaches or of peach blossom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [adjective] > pale red or pink
incarnatea1533
fleshy1555
incarnation1562
pallet1565
peach1583
bepurfurate1584
blush1597
carnation1598
peachy1599
peach-coloured1600
pink-coloured1600
incarnadine1605
pink1607
blush-coloured1626
blushy1626
gridelin1652
carnationeda1658
pinky1661
carneous1673
peach blossom1702
flesh-coloured1703
flesh-colour1711
mushroom-coloured1770
salmon-coloured1776
pinkish1785
salmon1786
blush-tinted1818
flesh-red1819
naturelle1873
flesh-pink1882
lilac-pink1882
pinksome1913
nude1922
magnolia-pink1931
salmony1935
magnolia1963
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. ii. 16 Take note how many paire of silke stockings thou hast with these, and those that were thy peach colourd once.
1852 Beck's Florist June 131 Daphne Mezereum..pretty peach-coloured blossoms.
1902 W. C. Smith Poet. Wks. ii. i. 401 Your father took to him, although he laughed At the peach-coloured liveries; praised his talent, Quoted his sayings.
1989 J. Trollope Village Affair iii. 33 Alice's wedding dress—ivory chiffon over peach-coloured silk—was finally fitted.
peach curl n. = peach leaf curl n.
ΚΠ
1882 Amer. Naturalist 16 586 In this paper..the peach curl fungus, the American grape mildew, the lettuce mildew, and the raspberry fungus, are discussed in a very instructive and entertaining way.
1887 Ann. Bot. 1 168 The ordinary form of this species [sc. Taphrina deformans] occurs upon peach-trees, and causes the crisping and wrinkling of the leaves known as the ‘peach-curl’.
2003 Canberra Times (Nexis) 6 Apr. a45 Spray stone fruit trees..for brown rot and peach curl once 80 per cent of the leaves have fallen.
peach-down n. and adj. (a) n. the soft, downy skin of a peach; chiefly in extended use; (b) adj. resembling the downy skin of a peach.
ΚΠ
1797 R. T. Paine Wks. Verse & Prose (1812) ii. 182 That pouting lip, where whilom grew The mellow peach-down, and the ruby's hue, No more can trance the ear.
1873 ‘J. Morris’ Wanderings of Vagabond xiv. 142 Mr. John Cotton, his partner, had a fat, stupid-looking face, the cheeks and upper lip covered with a small crop of peach-down.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping (1899) 170 She smoothed one peach-down cheek with complacency.
2001 New Statesman (Nexis) 23 Apr. Vau Vintage reminded me of a newly bathed baby sinking the folds of its peach-down skin into warm towels.
peach fly n. now rare an insect infesting peach trees, such as a peach aphid or a peach borer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Aphis > myzus persicae (peach aphid)
peach aphid1854
peach fly1865
peach-potato aphid1947
1865 Our Young Folks I. 715 The peach-fly was thus kept from laying its eggs in the soft bark at the surface of the ground.
1905 Chambers's Jrnl. May 368/1 The peach..is not now obtainable, through the inroads of the peach-fly.
1992 P. T. Stroud Thomas Say xiii. 219 An essay in the New York Farmer about the peach fly..held that the insect responsible for destroying peach trees was an ichneumon (wasp).
peach house n. a building in which peaches are grown under glass.
ΚΠ
1778 Farmer's Mag. ii. 31 This crop of grapes will last till the grapes in the peach-house are ripe.
1826 Gardener's Mag. Apr. 127 I consider it in the power of every gentleman who is possessed of a small pit or peach-house, to have young peas at his table.
2001 Independent (Nexis) 15 Sept. 11 There are vines in the vine houses, peaches in the peach house and, in the south-east corner, a miniature castle.
peach leaf curl n. a disease of peaches, nectarines, and almonds, caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans and characterized by blistering, thickening, discoloration, and curling of leaves, and sometimes also by infection of shoots and fruits (cf. leaf curl n. at leaf n.1 Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > fruit or fruit plants
leaf curl1850
fly-speck1855
vine-mildew1855
vine-fungus1857
leaf blister1858
blister1864
peach-blister1866
charbon1882
crown rot1888
melanose1888
plum pocket1888
peach leaf curl1890
brown rot1894
mummy1902
sooty blotch1909
rhubarb disease1911
spur blight1915
red core1936
sclerotinia1950
Sigatoka1958
1890 E. F. Smith in Jrnl. Mycol. 6 107 (heading) Peach-leaf curl.
1899 Bull. Cornell Univ. Agric. Exper. Station 164 371 Peach leaf-curl is a disease which has long been known to the orchardist as well as to the botanist; and since the seasons of 1897 and 1898 there are probably very few peach growers..who are unfamiliar with the disease.
2001 Org. Gardening July 44/2 There are several varieties of peaches that resist bacterial leaf spot or peach leaf curl.
peach-leaved adj. having lanceolate leaves resembling those of a peach tree.
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 366 The Peach leafe Bell flower hath a great number of small and long leaues, rising in a great bush out of the ground, like the leaues of the Peach tree.]
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Campanula The Peach-leav'd Bell-Flowers may be rais'd from seeds.
1811 D. Hosack Hortus Elginensis (ed. 2) 8 Aster umbellatus Ait., amygdalinus Mich., Star Wort peach leaved.
1997 Jrnl. Biogeogr. 24 677/1 All major riparian trees were to be represented... These included..peach-leaved willow (Salix amygdaloides).
peach myrtle n. rare any of several pink-flowered Australian shrubs of the genus Hypocalymma (family Myrtaceae).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > Australasian
banksia1787
waratah1793
honeysuckle1803
pinkwood1824
honeysuckle tree1825
rose1825
blue bush1828
dogwood1828
parrotbill1829
tulip-tree1830
whitebeard1832
swamp-oak1833
bauera1835
mungitec1837
bottlebrush1839
clianthus1841
glory-pea1848
boronia1852
koromiko1855
pituri1861
Sturt's pea1865
scrub vine1866
pea-bush1867
cotton-bush1876
Australian honeysuckle1881
peach myrtle1882
saloop bush1884
naupaka1888
dog rose1896
native tulip1898
snow bush1909
wedding-bush1923
Hebe1961
mountain pepper1965
1882 Garden 9 Sept. 230/3 The Peach Myrtle..is one of the many beautiful Australian plants.
peach oak n. U.S. the willow oak, Quercus phellos.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1835 J. Martin New Gazetteer Virginia 209 Peach oak (so called from the resemblance of its leaves to that of the peach tree).
1897 G. B. Sudworth Nomencl. Arborescent Flora (U.S.) 177 Quercus phellos Linn. Willow Oak... Common Names... Peach Oak (N.J., Del., Ohio).
1964 R. L. Taylor Plants Colonial Days 96 Another common name [for Quercus phellos], peach oak, refers also to the leaves.
peach palm n. the palm Bactris gasipaes, widely cultivated in tropical America for its large red and orange fruit which is edible and highly nutritious when cooked.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > other palms
prickly palm1666
thorny palm1666
palm1681
sagwire1681
wine-palm1681
prickle-palm1684
prickly pole1696
brab1698
palmyra1698
thatch-tree1756
double coconut1775
nibong1779
nipa1779
rhapis1789
cocorite1796
groo-groo1796
borassus1798
cohune1805
traveller's tree1809
tucum1810
gomuti1811
taliera1814
lontar1820
salak1820
ground-rattan1823
geonoma1824
tucuma1824
nikau1827
wax-palm1830
murumuru1834
piassava1835
traveller's palm1850
bangalow1851
inajá palm1853
jacitara1853
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
jipijapa1858
urucuri1860
climbing palm1863
sea-apple1864
Alexandra palm1865
coquito1866
thatch1866
thatch-palm1866
açai1868
walking-stick palm1869
kentia1870
toquilla1877
Guadalupe palm1895
tortoiseshell palm1902
pimpler1909
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > of tropical America > palms
peach palm1853
pupunha palm1853
Guadalupe palm1895
1853 A. R. Wallace Palm Trees of Amazon 10 His children are eating the agreeable red and yellow fruit of the Pupunha or peach palm.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons II. iii. 218 The celebrated ‘Peach-palm’,..is a common tree at Ega. The name, I suppose, is in allusion to the colour of the fruit, and not to its flavour.
1992 Nat. Hist. Jan. 51/3 The peach palm harvest coincides with the spawning season of the sabaleta, the medium-size, fruit-eating fish that is perhaps the most important food fish among the Makuna.
peach pie n. a pie made with peaches.
ΚΠ
1796 F. Asbury Jrnl. 9 Apr. (1821) II. 248 We dined on some peach-pie in the woods.
1831 H. C. Backhouse Jrnl. 7 May in Jrnl. & Lett. (1858) vii. 100 We saw them all at supper with their peach pie and milk.
1939 W. Saroyan Peace it's Wonderful 100 Joe's supper was two orders of ham and eggs, five cups of coffee, and peach pie à la mode.
1999 W. L. Heat Moon River Horse vii. 218 We..ordered plates of broasted chicken and peach pie.
peach pip n. rare = peach pit n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > peach > stone of
peach stone1580
peach pip1886
1886 P. Robinson Valley Teetotum Trees 74 The faces of the enemy..seeing us throwing fig-skins and peach-pips out of the windows as we passed, were not amiable.
1988 Jrnl. Southern Afr. Stud. 14 268 A stone the size of a peach pip..would kill a person.
peach pit n. a peach stone.
ΚΠ
1848 G. Bush Doctr. of Resurrection in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 252 You put an apple-seed or a peach-pit into the ground, and it springs up into the form of a miniature tree.
1993 Canad. Living Jan. 84/1 I've grown peach trees from peach pits.
peach-potato aphid n. (also peach-potato aphis) the aphid Myzus persicae, which overwinters especially on peach and nectarine and in summer infests potato and many other herbaceous plants, being a major aphid vector of plant viruses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Aphis > myzus persicae (peach aphid)
peach aphid1854
peach fly1865
peach-potato aphid1947
1931 K. M. Smith Textbk. Agric. Entomol. vi. 50 (heading) Potato and Peach Aphis.]
1947 L. Broadbent & R. Hull in Jrnl. Ministry Agric. 54 319 The peach-potato aphis..does not usually infest crops so heavily as do some other species of greenfly.
1951 New Biol. 11 51 The peach-potato aphid..is the main carrier of the known plant virus diseases throughout the world.
1995 E. Jablonka & M. J. Lamb Epigenetic Inheritance & Evol. vi. 144 In the peach potato aphid, insecticide resistance is sometimes the result of DNA amplification.
Peach State n. U.S. (a nickname for) the State of Georgia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > specific states > Georgia
the Cracker State1910
Peach State1935
1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day xiii. 290 The attractive and spirited little lady from the famous peach state.
1941 G. E. Shankle State Names (rev. ed.) ii. 110 Georgia was nicknamed The Peach State in 1939 because ‘peaches have been an important product of Georgia since the middle of the sixteenth century’.
2000 N. DeMille Lion's Game xxxiii. 270 Khalil continued on and at 7:05 p.m., he saw a sign that said Welcome to Georgia—the Peach State.
peach twig borer n. a small grey moth, Anarsia lineatella, whose larvae are a major pest of fruit trees, esp. peaches, apricots, and others of the genus Prunus, attacking young shoots and twigs in spring and fruit in summer.
ΚΠ
1897 Science 27 Aug. 315/1 Among these papers were the following:..The Peach Twig Borer, Anasia [sic] lineatella.
1938 H. J. Quayle Insects of Citrus & Other Subtropical Fruits ix. 395 The peach twig borer attacks almonds and apricots.
1999 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. 92 485 Eleven peach twig borer larvae were found in fresh prune cull samples (213.9 kg) removed from a 16,744.5-kg harvest.
peach water n. (originally) a flavouring extract obtained from peach leaves, having a flavour of bitter almonds; (now) bottled water with a peach flavour.
ΚΠ
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Z2v To make Peach Water.
1879 A. D. Whitney Just How 78 Half a teaspoonful of peach-water or essence of bitter almonds.
1991 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 14 July v. 8/1 Large brown glass jugs that held peach water for urban bakeries.
2001 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 17 June 62 They had run out of normal water, so I had to buy a bottle of peach water.
peach-worm n. chiefly U.S. (now historical) any of various caterpillars which infest the leaves of peach trees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths > [noun] > larva > that eats or destroys plants
leaf wormOE
wortworma1382
cole-worm1468
cole-wort worm1552
devil's gold ring1552
canker-blossom1600
peach-worm1814
knife-worm1860
hop-dog1872
nettle grub1890
1814 Cramer's Pittsburgh Mag. Almanac 1815 55 (heading) Remedy for the Peach Worm.
1856 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1855: Agric. 299 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (34th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 12) VI The ravages of the peach-worm have proved more extensive than usual.
1918 in E. L. D. Seymour Farm Knowl. II. 483 (table) Striped peach-worm. Gelesia confusella (Moth).
peach yellows n. a disease of cultivated peach trees, esp. in North America, characterized by yellowing and distortion of the foliage with stunting and eventual death of the tree, and caused by a mycoplasma-like organism (cf. yellows n. 3b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > viral diseases > associated with food or crop plants
yellow rust1808
leaf curl1850
peach yellows1880
tobacco mosaic virus1914
cucumber mosaic1916
reversion1918
plum pox1933
bushy stunt1936
swollen shoot1936
tobacco streak1936
sharka1961
1854 E. Emmons Agric. N.Y. V. Index 262 Peachtree yellows.]
1880 Amer. Naturalist 14 759 An investigation of the peach yellows.
1928 F. T. Brooks Plant Dis. iii. 23 The only means of checking the spread of Peach Yellows is to destroy affected trees as soon as seen.
1986 H. Kraft Lenape viii. 242 Around the turn of the twentieth century, a disastrous blight known as the ‘peach yellows’ struck in Delaware.
Derivatives
ˈpeach-like adj.
ΚΠ
1834 M. Scott Cruise of Midge v, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 38/1 His downy cheeks as peachlike and blooming as ever.
a1873 J. Howe Poems & Ess. (1874) 92 My gentle Wife, though girlhood's peach-like bloom Perchance is passing from thy cheek away.
1950 in Effects of Atomic Weapons (Los Alamos Scient. Lab.) ii. 30 The brownish or peachlike tint of the cloud which has been reported, particularly in the Bikini ‘Able’ airburst, is apparently due to nitrogen dioxide.
2003 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 22 Mar. 1 The male's arm is golden, peach-like, but his slouched figure traces a symmetry of apartness from her body.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
peachn.2
/piːtʃ/, U.S. /pitʃ/ Mining. English regional (chiefly Cornwall). Now historical.
Either of two types of rock found in tin mines, one predominantly chlorite (also green peach), the other (in full blue peach) a fine-grained, bluish-grey variety of tourmaline (see quots. 1877, 1920).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [noun] > slate > others
alum slate1675
peach1778
itacolumite1863
itabirite1868
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 325 When a load is composed mostly of this sort of stone, it is called a peach.
1811 J. Pinkerton Petralogy I. 128 Chlorite..is the green talc of Born, and the Samnterde of old German writers, perhaps from its velvety appearance. To the Cornish miners..it is also known by the name of peach.
1877 Min. Mag. 1 75 The green peach of the Cornish tin mines is undoubtedly chlorite... Blue peach..is probably a bluish-gray variety of Tourmaline.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 110 Blue peach, a slate-blue, very fine-grained schorl-rock.
1920 A. Holmes Nomencl. Petrol. 177 Peach, a local Cornish name for rocks produced by the alteration of the walls of tin-lodes, and consisting of quartz with chlorite or tourmaline.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
peachv.
/piːtʃ/, U.S. /pitʃ/ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > general proceedings > accusation, allegation, or indictment > charge, accuse, or indict [verb (transitive)]
wrayc725
forwrayOE
beclepec1030
challenge?c1225
indict1303
appeachc1315
aditea1325
appeal1366
impeachc1380
reprovea1382
arraigna1400
calla1400
raign?a1425
to put upa1438
present?a1439
ditec1440
detectc1449
articlec1450
billc1450
peach1465
attach1480
denounce1485
aret1487
accusea1500
filea1500
delate1515
crimea1550
panel1560
articulate1563
prosecute1579
impleada1600
to have up1605
reprosecute1622
tainta1625
criminatea1646
affect1726
to pull up1799
rap1904
run1909
1465 J. Payn in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 315 I..was thretenyd to haue ben honged..and so wolde haue made me to haue pechyd my maister Fastolf of treson.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 202 At the day of dome I shall thaym peche.
1560 Newe Interlude of Impacyente Pouerte sig. Biiiv Bycause he wolde not sell hys possessyon Of two false witnesses he was peached of hye trason.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 25 The Lord Dakers..was pechid of high treason.
1607 T. Middleton Phoenix sig. K Let me have pardon, I beseech your grace, and I'll peach 'em all.
1638 W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. Pref. §18 Does he not in the same place peach Tertullian also?
1693 N. Tate tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires ii. 20 Shou'd Verres peach Thieves, Milo Murderers, Clodius tax Bawds, Cethegus Catiline.
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. x. 14 Have him peach'd the next Sessions.
2.
a. transitive. To give incriminating evidence against (an accomplice or associate); to inform against, betray. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (transitive)]
wrayc725
meldeOE
bimeldena1300
forgabc1394
to blow up?a1400
outsay?a1400
detectc1449
denounce1485
ascry1523
inform1526
promote1550
peach1570
blow1575
impeach1617
wheedle1710
split1795
snitch1801
cheep1831
squeal1846
to put away1858
spot1864
report1869
squawk1872
nose1875
finger1877
ruck1884
to turn over1890
to gag on1891
shop1895
pool1907
run1909
peep1911
pot1911
copper1923
finger1929
rat1932
to blow the whistle on1934
grass1936
rat1969
to put in1975
turn1977
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > evidence > give evidence of [verb (transitive)] > give evidence against > an accomplice
peach1570
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > betrayal > betray [verb (transitive)]
sellc950
forredea1000
belewec1000
trechec1230
betrayc1275
trayc1275
wrayc1275
traise1320
trechetc1330
betradec1375
betraisec1386
bewray1535
betrantc1540
boil1602
reveal1640
peacha1689
bridge1819
to go back on (also upon)1859
to sell (a person) down the river1921
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1401/1 The sayd Frier..secretlye practised to peach him by letters sent vnto the Clergie here in England.
1582 G. Whetstone Heptameron Ciuill Disc. iii. sig. H.iiij Secondly, a Theefe that peacheth his fellowes, doeth good to the Common wealth.
1607 T. Middleton Phoenix sig. K Let me haue pardon I beseech your grace, and Ile peach 'em all.
a1689 A. Behn Widdow Ranter (1690) iv. ii. 40 Wilt thou betray and Peach thy Friend.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 91 He has Peach'd me and all the other, to save his Life.
1903 A. Lang in Pilot 20 June 591/2 Godfrey could not peach Coleman without peaching himself.
1981 Notes & Queries June 223/2 Peachum and his wife..urge Polly to peach her husband and so procure his immediate execution.
b. intransitive. Chiefly colloquial. To inform on (formerly also upon, against) an accomplice or associate; to turn informer.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (intransitive)]
inform1588
peach1598
whistle1599
sing1612
whiddlec1661
squeak1690
wheedle1710
whittle1735
to blow the gab1785
snitch1801
rat1810
nose1811
sing1816
gnarl1819
split1819
stag1839
clype1843
squeal1846
blow1848
to round on1857
nark1859
pimp1865
squawk1872
ruck1884
to come or turn copper1891
copper1897
sneak1897
cough1901
stool1911
tattle-tale1918
snout1923
talk1924
fink1925
scream1925
sarbut1928
grass1929
to turn over1967
dime1970
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. ii. 44 If I be tane, ile peach for this. View more context for this quotation
a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady iv. vii. 34 in Wks. (1640) III Will you goe peach, and cry your selfe a foole At Granam's Crosse? be laugh'd at, and dispis'd?
1719 R. Savage Love in Veil iii. iii. 41 Save my life, and I'll peach.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue at Gab To blow the gab, to confess, or peach.
1816 Trial Berkeley Poachers 34 An oath not to peach upon each other.
1847 G. P. R. James Convict xxxvii He might have got off himself if he had peached against others.
1881 Punch 26 Nov. 241/2 Eve flirted with Jerrem; Adam, enraged, ‘peached’ on Jerrem.
1927 R. Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 170 Will and I wouldn't have peached on him.
1974 ‘M. Innes’ Mysterious Comm. i. 11 At Honeybath's public school you had peached if you told tales.
2002 S. Waters Fingersmith i. 12 It was my mother's knife that killed him. Her own pal peached on her.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > disclose or reveal [verb (transitive)] > secrets > prejudicially
wraya1300
bewrayc1386
descrya1400
blab1594
betray1598
sell1831
peach1852
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond III. ix. 229 What! the soubrette has peached to the amoureux.
1883 W. Haslam Yet not I 105 I'm so thankful this has all come out without my peaching a word.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1adj.a1400
n.21778
v.1465