Peakn.¹

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: Old English Peac, Old English–early Middle English Pec, Old English–early Middle English Pech, early Middle English Peyk, Middle English Peek, Middle English Peeke, Middle English Pek, Middle English 1700s Peck, Middle English–1500s Peeke, Middle English–1500s Peke, 1500s–1700s Peake, 1500s– Peak.

Origin: Of uncertain origin.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps related to Norwegian regional pjuke pouch-shaped bump, Swedish regional pjuk , pjukk summit, hillock, haycock, probably < the same Germanic base as pock n.¹ In later use frequently apprehended as the same word as peak n.² (compare sense 7a).Old English pēac is attested only as a place-name element (but see note below), chiefly with reference to the Peak District in Derbyshire and Staffordshire; the original sense of the word is assumed to have been ‘knoll, hill, summit’. Although it is sometimes suggested that the name was originally applied to Castle Hill, Castleton, Derbyshire, there is no real evidence for this. Old English Pēcsǣte , lit. ‘settlers of the Peak’ (one isolated attestation in a document whose original dates from the 7th cent.) shows that even in early use the name had come to be applied to the whole district:OE Tribal Hidage in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 414 Pecsætna [land] twelf hund hyda. The same place-name element is apparently also attested in other names elsewhere in England, as Pech (1086; now Peek, Devon), Pechesdone (1086; now Pegsdon, Bedfordshire), Pecfortuna (1096–1101; now Peckforton, Cheshire), Pekesbru (late 12th cent.; now Ganton Peak, East Riding, Yorkshire). The name Peak's Arse (see Peak's arse n. at Compounds 2), applied to the Peak Cavern, has suggested an alternative etymology of Old English Pēac as the name of a demon (compare the later name Devil's Arse ), relating the word to Old English pūca goblin (see puck n.¹), but the place-name evidence cited above (in all of which the word appears to be associated with hills) tells against this. From the 17th cent. the name has naturally been associated with peak n.², but the history of the latter makes any etymological connection impossible. In sense 2 apparently so called from the famous Peak Cavern; compare quot. 1600¹ at Peakish adj.² The name is also attested in documents from the early 12th cent. to the late 14th cent. in the Latinized form Peccus, compare:a1135 in Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (1817) I. 1272 Ea die qua Willelmo Peverell dominium meum de Pecco dedi.a1200 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 1 Altus Peccus.1223 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 159 Foresta de Pecco [v.r. Pecko]. For possible evidence of Old English pēac in general sense ‘knoll, hill, summit’ compare the following late copy of a charter of 940 in which the unknown word weac is perhaps a scribal error for peac (resulting from the common confusion of the letters wynn (for /w/) and p):lOE Bounds (Sawyer 463) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 485 Þonam east to lytlan weac suþæweardan þæt þonan east ofær Meone to mæarh þorne þonan east to mearc hangran suþæ weardan utt þurh weac to trind lea. A. Mawer ( Probl. Place-name Study (1929) 71) has identified the locality referred to as probably Peake Farms on a prominent spur overlooking the Meon valley in Hampshire.

1. Now only with the. = Peak District n. at Compounds 2.The northern part is known as the High Peak or Dark Peak, the southern part as the Low Peak or White Peak. The whole district was made a national park in 1951.Recorded earliest in Peakland n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > [noun] > of a country > specific

PeakeOE

PeaklandeOE

highland1503

Peak country?1523

piedmont1755

high country1874

altiplano1910

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 920 Eadweard cyning..for þa þonan on Peaclond to Badecanwiellon.

lOE Henry of Huntingdon Historia Anglorum (1996) i. vii. 22 Quatuor autem sunt que mira uidentur in Anglia. Primum quidem est quod uentus egreditur a cauernis terre in monte qui uocatur Pec, tanto uigore ut uestes iniectas repellat et in altum eleuatas procul eiciat.

1174 in Publ. Pipe Roll Soc. (1896) XXI. 61 In Operationibus Castellorum de Pech & de Bolesoura.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 164 Þat oþer wonder is, Vpe þe hul of þe pek þe wind þere iwis Vp of þe erþe ofte comþ of holes.

1383 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 159 (MED) Foreste del Peek.

?1515 A. Barclay Egloges (1928) i. 5 Yet was he to sight a stoute and lustie freake, And as he bosted he borne was in the peake.

1560 T. Becon Jewel of Joy in Wks. ii. 6 I trauayled into Darbyshere and from thence into the Peke.

1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxvi. 125 Yet for her Caues, and Holes, Peake onely not excells, But that I can againe produce those wondrous Wells Of Buckston.

1631 B. Jonson New Inne v. v. l. 110 I am he Haue measur'd all the Shires of England ouer: Wales, and her mountaines, seene those wilder nations, Of people in the Peake, and Lancashire.

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 83 The great Butcher-bird called in the Peak of Derbyshire Wirrangle.

1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Sivb In the High and Low Peaks, where ventureing Miners get but small Quantitys of Booss.

1757 C. Powys Passages from Diaries Mrs. Powys (1899) 29 I must own this magnificent..place may justly be stiled one of the wonders of the Peake.

1802 C. Lamb Let. 24 Sept. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1976) II. 68 To visit the far famed Peak in Derbyshire, where the Devil sits, they say, without breeches.

1874 Murray's Hand-bk. Derby (ed. 2) 53/2 The great block of mountain called in the Ordnance Map ‘the Peak’ is really an extensive plateau comprising the several summits of Kinderscout, the Edge, Fairbrook Naze, etc.

1891 J. Leyland Peak of Derbyshire i. 1 The ‘Peak of Derbyshire’ is a term which, to many, does not carry with it a very definite signification, for although most of the favourite resorts of tourists are known to lie within Peakland, few have inquired as to the boundaries of that district.

1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xi. 182 The country rolled away in long undulations, south towards the Peak, east towards Mansfield and Nottingham.

1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages Eng. x. 346 Derbyshire... There seems to have been surprisingly little retreat of settlement from marginal lands in the Peak.

1993 Daily Tel. 10 Dec. 10/7 The red grouse, golden plover, and dunlin are thriving and the mountain, or blue hare (Lepus timidus), introduced in the High Peak in the 19th century, is breeding again.

†2. A cave. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > cave

covec950

denOE

cavec1220

rochea1300

spelunk13..

cavernc1374

cabin1377

speke1377

antruma1398

minea1398

thurse-house?c1450

crypt?a1475

vault1535

chamber1575

antre1585

underground1594

Peak1600

lustre?1615

open?1644

cunicle1657

subterranean1714

subterrane1759

loch1767

purgatory1797

vug1818

1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. x. i. 351 Into this cave or peake [L. spelunca] the Romanes entred with their ensignes displaied.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

Peak burr n. (burr n.⁵).

ΚΠ

1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Dec. 891/1 We are given..a notice of the mill's character..down to the quality of millstones—Peak or French burr.

Peak hill n.

ΚΠ

1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 45 I never saw any of them but on the barren peak Hills.

1902 Times 27 Jan. 10/5 Snow has fallen to the depth of 6in. on the Peak hills of Derbyshire.

† Peak lead n. Obsolete

ΚΠ

1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 265 The Lead Mines in Ireland doe containe more siluer than these Mines of Darbieshire and Somersetshire called Peake and Mendippe Leade.

Peak scenery n.

ΚΠ

1818 E. Rhodes (title) Peak scenery.

1994 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 10 July (Review Suppl.) 58 This former railway line, running through some of the best of the Peak scenery, is ideal for walking or easy cycling.

Peak stone n.

ΚΠ

1709 London Gaz. No. 4540/7 To be Lett some very good Mills at Kidlington,..one pair of Peck Stones, one pair of French Stones.

2001 Observer 29 Apr. (Life Suppl.) 48/2 Most British mills use Derbyshire peak stone, but there is only one type of burrstone that grinds flour perfectly.

C2.

Peak castle n. the castle at Castleton in the Peak District.

ΚΠ

1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 425/2 The Peak castle is now an ‘ill-shapen ruin’, situated on the verge of the rocky precipice that forms the roof of the Peak cavern at Castleton.

1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 72/2 Another great Domesday landholder was William Peverel, the historic founder of Peak Castle.

Peak country n. = Peak District n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > [noun] > of a country > specific

PeakeOE

PeaklandeOE

highland1503

Peak country?1523

piedmont1755

high country1874

altiplano1910

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxi The poore man of the peeke country and such other places where they vse to mylke theyr ewes.

1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 195 We have a Hole call'd Elden-hole, not made by art, but naturally in the mountain, in the Peak-country of Darbyshire, above 80 fathoms deep.

1959 Dict. National Biogr. 1941–50 at Legh, Thomas Wodehouse Lyme, their seat in the Peak country, is one of England's great country houses.

Peak District n. a hilly district in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, situated at the southern end of the Pennines.

ΚΠ

1839 Times 2 Dec. 2/6 The harvest in North Derbyshire..is not yet completed. There are many crops of oats still remaining to be carried, especially in the peak district.

1869 Notes & Queries 16 Oct. 315/1 Being at Castleton, in the Peak district, a few days ago, I observed something remarkable stuck on the top of the church tower.

1956 Nature 11 Feb. 246/2 The establishment of a motor-racing circuit on public roads in the Peak District National Park.

† Peak grinding n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) grain ground with millstones from the Peak District.

ΚΠ

1659 J. Howell Particular Vocab. §l, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) Cullen meal the purest, peak or French grinding.

† Peak's arse n. Obsolete the Peak Cavern near Castleton in the Peak District.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > cave > specific

St Patrick's Purgatoryc1300

Peak's arse1681

OE Domesday Bk. (1783) I. f. 276/2 [Phillimore: Derbyshire 7. 7] In Pechesers. Terram castelli Willelmi Peurel tenuerunt Gernebern & Hundinc.

1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake 47 Under this Castle yawns a dreadful Cave. [Note] Peake's-Arse, the sixth Wonder.

† Peak-wheat n. Obsolete rare a poor variety of wheat.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant

spelta1000

farc1420

ador?1440

flaxen wheat?1523

Peak-wheat?1523

red wheat?1523

white wheat?1523

duck-bill wheat1553

zea1562

alica1565

buck1577

amelcorn1578

horse-flower1578

tiphe1578

pollard1580

rivet1580

Saracen's corn1585

French wheat1593

Lammas-wheat1594

starch corn1597

St. Peter's corn1597

frumenty1600

secourgeon1600

polwheat1601

duck-wheat1611

kidneys of wheat1611

ograve wheat1616

soft wheat1640

cone-wheat1677

Lammas1677

Poland wheat1686

Saracen corn1687

pole rivet1707

Smyrna wheat1735

hard wheat1757

hen corn1765

velvet wheat1771

white straw1771

nonpareil1805

thick-set wheat1808

cone1826

farro1828

Polish wheat1832

velvet-ear wheat1837

sarrasin1840

mummy wheat1842

snowdrop1844

Red Fife1857

flint-wheat1859

dinkel1866

thick-set1875

spring1884

macaroni wheat1901

einkorn1904

marquis1906

durum1908

emmer1908

hedgehog wheat1909

speltoid1939

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viii^v Beyr barley..hath an eyre thre inches of length or more set foure square lyke peeke whete smale cornes & lytell floure, and that is the worst barley.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xix Englysshe whete hath a dunne yere fywe anis or none, & is the worst whete saue peeke whete. Peeke whete hath a red eyre full of anis thynne set & of tymes it is flyntered.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

peakn.²adj.

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: late Middle English–1500s peke, 1500s pek, 1500s–1600s peake, 1500s– peak, 1600s peeke, 1600s–1700s (1800s– English regional (south-western)) peek, 1700s– pique (now rare and archaic); also Scottish pre-1700 peick, pre-1700 1800s peik, 1900s– pake (rare), 1900s– peek (rare). See also peck n.²

Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.¹

Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.¹ (compare γ forms and discussion at pick v.¹). Compare Middle Dutch pēke pike, pickaxe, pointed implement, Middle Low German pēk , peek , peik pointed implement, pointed tip of an implement (German regional (Low German) Peek )). Compare earlier peaked adj.¹ Compare peck n.²Branch A. and pike n.¹ appear to have moved apart in sense in early modern English, pike being confined more to a sharp piercing or pricking point (perhaps influenced by pike n.⁵, the weapon, introduced to Britain in the late 15th cent.), while peak became more associated with the notion of a projecting point, not specially sharp or pointed. The extension of peak to denote a pointed mountain top or conical mountain (see branch A. III.) began in the 17th cent., apparently after pike n.³ or its Romance etymons; there is probably no connection with pike n.², still in use for the names of some mountain summits in the north-west of England (and adjacent parts of Scotland). With the sense ‘beak, bill’ (see sense A. 1) compare beak n.¹ Irish péac point, peak, is probably < Middle English.

A. n.²

I. A projecting point, and related uses.

1. A projecting point; a pointed or tapering extremity; †a beak, a bill (obsolete). Now rare or merged in sense A. 8a.See also green-peak n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > [noun] > horn- or beak-like part

peakc1450

horn1776

rostrum1818

beak1820

the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > [noun] > a point

pointc1300

neb?a1425

peakc1450

peck1481

cag1604

sharp1633

acuminate1640

cuspis1646

cusp1647

acumination1651

nib1713

spit-point1796

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [noun] > snout > beak

billa1000

peakc1450

rostrum1677

beak1822

c1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Digby) f. 215 A kalketrappe...hath foure tyndes or pykes ischarped kene; & how euer þis irun be icaast, þre pekes [a1450 Douce pikes; L. radiis] stonde on þe grounde, & þe fourþe pik stant [vpryȝt].

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xxxii. 45 The floures are smal, of a pleasant light redde: after these floures followeth certayne small narrow peakes or beakes as in the others.

1587 T. Thomas Dict. Latinae & Anglicanae Vngula,..a tormenting iron toole with two peakes or hornes wherwith the sides of the offanders were cut and slit.

1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlvii. 521 There breed in trees certaine small beastes almost like to weeuils,..certaine of them haue long and sharpe pointed peakes or bils, these doe great harme to grafts and other yong trees.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Trombe, a round and hollow ball of wood, hauing a peake like a casting-top, and making a great noise when it is cast as a top.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Peak, the sharp Point of any thing.

1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints ii. ii. 216 It [sc. the epiglottis] is suspended by little peaks of the membrane, which we call ligaments of the glottis.

1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 183 The moon put forth a little diamond peak, No bigger than an unobserved star.

1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. i. 21 These are the two ears of the Faun, which are leaf-shaped, terminating in little peaks, like those of some species of animals.

1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xli. 29 The plantation wherein she had taken shelter ran down at this spot into a peak.

1907 N.E.D. at Pique v.³ To taper to a peak.

1999 Miami Times (Nexis) 14 Oct. The piquillos, small red peppers that taper to a peak (thus their name).

2. spec.

a. Originally: the projecting front of a headdress, esp. of a widow's hood. Later more generally: any more or less pointed projecting part of a garment or costume.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > other

netOE

sheepskinc1175

tail1297

panec1300

slipc1440

cukera1500

peak1509

waist1590

bumbarrel1609

winglet1611

armhole1731

fullness1792

stride1807

bottom1820

patte1835

buckling1861

ventilator1870

tie-back1880

shield1884

organ pleat1886

outer1904

flarea1910

uplift1929

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > projecting front

peak1509

pokec1614

poke-brim1879

1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xix^v And ye Jentyl wymen whome this lewde vice doth blynde Lased on the backe: your peakes set a loft.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 253/1 Peake of a ladyes mourning heed, biquoquet.

1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. L4 A close-bellied dublet comming downe with a peake behinde as farre as the crupper.

1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 170 The colours of their coates weare raised with a peake behind to keepe the necke warme.

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. vi. 114 Frontlets were worn betwixt their eies..hanging down on a peak from their foreheads.

1696 London Gaz. No. 3234/4 A Childs Peak with a Scarlet Riband,..a red Riband Stomacher.

1706 J. Addison Rosamond iii. iv Widow Trusty, why so Fine? Why dost thou thus in Colours shine? Thou should'st thy husband's death bewail In Sable vesture, Peak and Veil.

1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth II. 11 The Buxom Widdow with Bandore and Peak.

1795 A. Anderson Narr. Brit. Embassy China 108 The women of Pekin..wear a sharp peak of black velvet or silk, which..descends from the forehead almost between their eyes.

1825 R. Chambers Traditions II. 59 The peak was a deep sharp angle in the close part of the gown behind, pointing downwards.

1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxviii. 301 The collar was cut into curious peaks, which served the goblin in lieu of ruff or neckerchief.

1854 S. Sidney in Househ. Words 28 Oct. 249/2 Collars of gigantic breadth, with piques, gave the effect of a hump to all but crane-necked men.

1859 A. H. Clough tr. Plutarch Lives V. 208 Alexander was brought out before the people in the Median costume, the tiara and upright peak.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. i. [Telemachus] 17 He pulled down neatly the peaks of his primrose waistcoat.

1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions iii. xv. 240 She..wore the peak of her sari drawn so far forward that its broad edging of embroidery shadowed what little he could see of her face.

1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 2 Oct. To avoid crease marks near the peaks of shirt collars iron from each peak towards the centre back of each collar.

b. The pointed tip of a beard. In early use also: †a pointed beard (obsolete). Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of beard

goat's beard1440

bodkin-bearda1529

pique-devant1587

crates1592

peak1592

spade-peak1592

beard1598

Cads-beard1598

spade-beard1598

punto beard1633

cathedral beard1635

stiletto1638

T bearda1640

trencher-bearda1668

tile beard1816

imperial beard1832

Charley1833

imperial1835

royale1838

goatee1841

goat1849

Newgate frill1851

Newgate fringe1853

Vandyke beard1894

torpedo beard1899

Vandyke1909

pencil beard1966

1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. D4 He [sc. the barber] discends as low as his bearde, and asketh..whether hee will haue his peak cut short & sharpe.

1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. E4 A iolly long red peake like the spire of a steeple hee cherisht continually without cutting.

1619 H. Hutton Follie's Anat. sig. A8 Hauing his beard precisely cut ith' peake.

a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Double Marriage iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ddddd4/2 How he has..run your beard into a peak of twenty!

1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 390 His Beard is Cut neatly, and the Whiskers..in fashion of an Half-Moon on the upper Lip, with only a decent Peak on the under.

1852 F. M. Lewin Diary 28 Nov. in Lewin Lett. (1909) II. v. 98 At dinner I met Count Stackelburg,..a good example of a Swedish nobleman, fair and stout, wearing his beard in a peak.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. vi. [Hades] 87 Martin Cunningham twirled more quickly the peak of his beard.

1997 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 21 Feb. I had grown a technicolor beard, red and curly, with two peaks, separated by a brown central streak.

c. The stiff projecting part at the front of a cap. Now chiefly British.In U.S. use the more commonly used terms are bill and visor.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > projecting front > (peak) of cap

peak1660

shade1818

visor1864

skip1888

bill1935

1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 136 A Cap of Crimson Tissu, with a Chapplet of gold, that hath a peake before [Fr. vne pointe au deuant], not unlike the Flower-Deluces.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. vi. 193 Having on a jockey-cap, one side of the peak was shaved off..by a ball.

1813 J. Austen Let. 16 Sept. (1995) 222 My Cap has a peak in front. Large, full Bows of very narrow ribbon (old twopenny) are the thing.

1866 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 356 A cap is best for the head, and it is not a bad plan to line the peak inside with green.

1873 W. Black Princess of Thule i. 1 The rain that fell off the peak of his sailor's cap.

1935 W. Faulkner Pylon 132 He looked up and back, his eyebrows rising and vanishing beyond the cap's peak.

1976 Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 21/6 (advt.) Riding macs, riding caps with new collapsible peaks, hunting bowlers. Bargain price.

1992 C. Wilkins Wolf's Eye 208 ‘If you're gonna be a Thunder Bay boy, you gotta have a cap.’.. Billy..swinging the hat by its peak, hooked it onto his head.

d. A projecting part of a saddle; a pommel. In quot. 1775: a saddle with a high pommel (cf. demi-pique n.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > parts of saddle

saddle-boweOE

arsonc1300

saddle skirt1361

saddle-tree1364

skirtc1400

saddle panel1465

stock-tree1470

stock1497

pommela1500

tree1535

pillion cloth1540

port1548

saddle stock1548

pilch1552

bolster1591

cantle1591

shank-pilliona1599

pillowc1600

pad1604

crutch1607

sivet1607

saddle crutcha1614

saddle eaves1663

saddle tore1681

burr1688

head1688

narve1688

saddle seat1688

sidebar1688

torea1694

quarter1735

bands of a saddle1753

witherband1764

withers1764

peak1775

pillion-stick1784

boot-housing1792

saddle flap1798

saddle lap1803

fork1833

flap1849

horn1849

skirting1852

hunting-horn1854

head-plate1855

saddle horn1856

cantle bar1859

leaping-horn1859

straining1871

stirrup-bar1875

straining-leather1875

spring tree1877

leaping-head1881

officer-tree1894

monkey1911

monkey-strap1915

thigh roll1963

straining-web-

1775 J. Schaw Jrnl. Lady of Quality (1921) 231 He got a saddle indeed, but not a common one, for it was an old French pique, that had not felt the air for fifty years.

1845 R. Browning How they brought Good News in Bells & Pomegranates No. VII: Dramatic Romances & Lyrics ii. 3 I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right.

a1860 Sir H. Smith Autobiogr. (1901) I. xviii. 177 John Bell had on this horse a very large and high-peaked Hussar saddle, with his cloak strapped on the pique before.

1895 G. A. Henty Heart of Rockies iii. 49 A saddle of Mexican pattern, with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and heavy stirrups.

1904 R. Hichens Garden of Allah ii. ix. 144 She saw Androvsky raise his arms from the saddle peak, catch at the flying rein, draw it up, lean against the saddle back and pull with all his force.

1998 P. Starkey Improving Donkey Utilisation & Management 31 Usually 90° is sufficient to ensure that the peak of the saddle remains off the spine.

e. A protruding point or angle in the hairline of a person's forehead. See also widow's peak n. at widow n. Compounds 5.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > hairline > [noun] > types of

widow's peak1681

peak1795

1795 Mrs. Courtney Isabinda of Bellefield I. liv. 224 Her forehead, rather low than high, on which her hair descends in a little peak, which looks exceedingly pretty.

1833 A. E. Bray Let. in Descr. Part Devonshire (1836) III. xxxviii. 193 Wishing that he should have..a pair of fine peaks, as they were called, one being on either side the forehead, she caused the hair to be regularly shaved off.

1851 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. July 55 He had a high, round forehead, running up into two sharp peaks over his temples.

1938 A. Morris Step-by-step Method Water Waving 39 (caption) Hair line showing peak and receding part over eyes.

1995 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel (Nexis) 26 Mar. 3 The high-collared silk cape, the slicked-back hair with a mid-forehead peak, the elongated fangs.

†3. A promontory; a headland. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > promontory, headland, or cape > [noun]

starteOE

nessOE

snookc1236

head1315

bill1382

foreland?a1400

capec1405

nook?a1425

mull1429

headland?c1475

point?c1475

nese1497

peak1548

promontory1548

arma1552

reach1562

butt1598

promontorea1600

horn1601

naze1605

promonta1607

bay1611

abutment1613

promontorium1621

noup1701

lingula1753

scaw1821

tang1822

odd1869

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xiii. 46 Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia, whiche is a great promontorye, or peake on the weste parte of Antioche.

4. Lace, esp. with a scalloped edge. (In quot. 1591: a lace ruff). Cf. picot n. Now Scottish.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > ruffle or frill

ruff?1523

chitterling1576

hand-ruff1581

peak1591

frislet1607

fall1634

ruffle1659

furbelow1706

flounce1726

Valenciennes1764

ruche1806

ruching1847

volant1851

flouncing1865

balayeuse1882

cascade1882

goffering1889

tier1934

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace

lace1530

peak1591

tevell1632

lacework1677

dentelle1847

machine lace1851

1591 T. Lodge Catharos in Compl. Wks. (1883–8) 57 Our picked yongsters hauing their peakes starched for feare of stirring.

1667 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue (rev. ed.) I. i. iv. 52 Peake, any Lace.

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Peak, any kind of Lace.

1881 A. Trumble Slang Dict. 26/1 Peak, lace goods.

1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 230 Peak, a kind of lace.

1985 Conc. Sc. Dict. Peak, a type of lace with a pointed, scalloped edge.

5. Nautical.

a. The upper end of a gaff (gaff n.¹ 2); the upper aftermost corner of a sail extended by a gaff. Also with distinguishing word, as gaff peak, mizzen peak.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > upper corner

peak1692

nock1794

throat1808

1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 456 Hanging white flags..on the mizen peak.

1750 Minutes Proc. Trial Rear-Admiral Knowles 22 I remember a Genoeze Frag being hoisted..on board the Cornwall, at the mizin Peek.

1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 27 The reef enwrapp'd, th' inserted nittles ty'd, The hallyards, thrott and peek, are next apply'd.

1806 A. Duncan Life Nelson 75 Nelson directed his fleet to hoist four lights..at the mizen peak.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast ix. 69 There was only one vessel in the port—a long, sharp brig..with..English colors at her peak.

1894 Times 16 June 12/2 Healy had to gybe, but, though warned to lower his peak, he performed the operation with unshortened sail.

1901 W. C. Russell Ship's Adventure vii There's the barque that fouled us last night, sir. She's got a wift at her mizzen-peak.

1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms Peak span, a piece of wire or rope leading from the lower masthead to the peak of a standing gaff to support it in position.

1962 A. G. Course Dict. Nautical Terms (at cited word) Signal halliards rove through a block at the peak were known as peak halliards.

1990 Small Boat Jrnl. Jan. 48/3 The sail is pivoted around the axis from the tack downhaul up to the peak.

b. The narrow part of a ship's hold at the bow or (less commonly) stern.Earliest in forepeak n.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > bottom or part under water > [noun] > hold > parts of hold

forepeak1693

peak1693

wing1730

forehold1790

1693 R. Lyde True Acct. Retaking of Ship 17 A Scuttle..that went down into the Forepeak.

1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) There is also a Room in the Hold of a Ship, that is called the Peek: 'Tis from the Bitts forward to the Stem. Here Men of War usually keep their Powder; and Merchant-men, Outward-bound, place their Victuals here.

1895 E. R. Suffling Land of Broads 25 Forward in the peak is a small American cooking-stove.

1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms Peak tank, a tank situated in the fore or after peak.

2002 Africa News (Nexis) 16 Nov. The goods were loaded in the forward peak, a front compartment in a ship that is not supposed to be loaded with goods.

c. The point at the end of a fluke of an anchor; = bill n.² 4, pea n.⁴

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > anchoring equipment > [noun] > anchor > fluke > point of

bill1769

peak1793

peac1860

anchor point1877

1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §143 The anchor..became suspended by the bowsprit, with the Peak upwards.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak of an anchor, the bill or extremity of the palm, which, as seamen by custom drop the k, is pronounced pea; it is tapered nearly to a point in order to penetrate the bottom.

1982 P. Clissold Layton's Dict. Naut. Words (new ed.) Pea, bill, or peak, of anchor.

II. A pointed implement.

†a. A pickaxe. Cf. peck n.² 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > pick

mattockeOE

pickaxe1256

billc1325

pikec1330

pickc1350

peak1454

picker1481

peck1485

beele1671

pix1708

tramp-pick1813

jackass pick1874

mad mick1919

1454 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 173 (MED) An axe, a kychen knyfe..a peke, a grett arke lydles, a pikeforke.

c1500 Makculloch MS in G. S. Stevenson Pieces from Makculloch & Gray MSS (1918) xiii. 53 Hec marra, a peik.

1514 Lett. & Papers Henry VIII (P.R.O.) I. 572/1 xxii pekes for to hewe gounys stonys.

1684 in A. H. Millar Bk. of Record (1890) 34 The utter court beat doune by the force of quarry mells and peiks to render it accessable.

b. Scottish (eastern). A long pointed piece of lead, used for ruling paper. Also: a slate pencil. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > for marking lines parallel to edge

gauge1678

swage1688

peak1825

marking gauge1875

society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > slate pencil

slate pencil1761

skaillie1808

peak1825

1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Peik, Lead-peik, a long piece of lead, used for ruling paper, Aberd.

1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 208 Slate pencil, [Kincardine] pake, peek.

c. English regional (south-western). A pitchfork, a hay-fork.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > fork > pitch-fork

pikeforkc1275

shakefork1338

pickfork1349

pitchfork1364

pikea1398

bicornec1420

hay-fork1552

shed-fork1559

straw-fork1573

pikel1602

sheppeck1602

corn-pike1611

wain-forka1642

pick1777

pickle1847

peak1892

1892 S. Hewett Peasant Speech Devon 123 Aw yü gert slamicking theng! Yer clothes lükes s'off twuz drawed on wi' a peek!

1967 H. Orton & M. F. Wakelin Surv. Eng. Dial. IV. i. 135 Q[uestion]. What do you call a fork with two prongs?.. [Somerset] Peek.

III. A mountain, a prominence; a highest or maximum point.

a. The pointed top or summit of a mountain; a mountain or hill having a more or less pointed summit, or being conical in form. Cf. pico n.In quot. 1613 the form peeke is perhaps an error for peeked; cf. quot. 1613 at peaked adj.¹ b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill or mountain > [noun] > summit > pointed

pike1243

pico1596

peak1613

pic1658

obelisk1705

horn1820

1613 J. Saris Jrnl. in Voy. Japan (1900) 11 When the peeke hill beares N. by W. then you are twhart.

1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 112 The top of the high Peake of Damoan..like a Sugar-loafe.

1637 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Four Bks. 4 Some full brauely climme The craggie peakes of hills, t'escape the raging deepes.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 181 We were some three Leagues off of Sannas,..it makes a Peak, but the Hill is higher than the Peak [Fr. il fait un pico, mais la montagne est plus haute que le pico].

a1721 M. Prior Cloe Hunting in Poems on Several Occasions (1905) 59 On Meander's bank, or Latmus' peak.

1759 tr. M. Adanson Voy. Senegal 8 The Peak of Tenerif [Fr. le Pic de Ténérif]..appeared to us in the form of a pyramid, or more properly, of a sugar~loaf.

1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1984) 151 The lead is transported 130 miles along a good road, leading through the peaks of Otter to Lynch's ferry, or Winston's.

1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 61 I'd rather stand upon this misty peak, With not a thing to sigh for, or to seek.

1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine i. ii. 76 The next day we ascended the highest peak..of the Sinai range.

1882 Jrnl. Amer. Geogr. Soc. N.Y. 14 276 Westward from its crest a few rocky peaks only are visible.

1943 R. Peattie Great Smokies & Blue Ridge 157 The red spruce..crowns only our highest peaks.

1962 S. Wynter Hills of Hebron ii. 26 The sun lipped with fire the peaks that fenced in Hebron.

2000 N. Kanellos Noche Buena 25 The last rays of the setting sun turned the highest snow-capped peaks into gold and rose.

b. figurative. A highest point, summit, or zenith of achievement, success, development, etc.; a climax, an acme. In later use: esp. a point (in time) at which a varying quantity (as traffic flow, prices, electric power, etc.) has reached a maximum; the measure of such a quantity at this point; the representation of such a point on a graph, etc. (cf. spike n.² 2j(b)).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top

headOE

copa1000

heightOE

topc1000

highestlOE

crest1382

coperounc1400

summita1425

summity?a1425

toppet1439

altitude?a1475

upperest1484

principala1533

pitcha1552

supremity1584

culm1587

period1595

spire1600

upward1608

cope1609

fastigium1641

vertex1641

culmen1646

supreme1652

tip-top1702

peak1785

helm1893

altaltissimo1975

the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top > pointed

pin?a1475

apex1590

punctilio1601

cone1611

cuspis1646

cusp1647

peak1785

the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > part of

peak1785

flatline1867

tail1895

upper bound1917

valley1935

trough1938

skirt1940

shoulder1956

spike1961

the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > state of or advanced condition > highest point

prickOE

heighta1050

full1340

higha1398

pointc1400

roofa1500

top-castle1548

ruff1549

acmea1568

tip1567

noontide1578

high tide1579

superlative1583

summity1588

spring tide1593

meridian1594

period1595

apogee1600

punctilio1601

high-water mark1602

noon1609

zenith1610

auge1611

apex1624

culmination1633

cumble1640

culmen1646

climax1647

topc1650

cumulus1659

summit1661

perigeum1670

highest1688

consummation1698

stretch1741

high point1787

perihelion1804

summary1831

comble1832

heading up1857

climacteric1870

flashpoint1878

tip-end1885

peak1902

noontime1903

Omega point1981

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [noun] > quality or fact of being extreme > highest, utmost, or extreme degree

heightOE

perfectiona1398

utterestc1410

uttermosta1425

tiptoec1440

pinnaclec1450

utmost1472

outmostc1535

extremity1543

abyss1548

top1552

furthest, utmost stretch1558

summa summarum1567

superlative1573

strain1576

extreme1595

fine1596

last1602

yondmost1608

super-superlative1623

pitch1624

utmostness1674

pink1720

supreme1817

ultima Thule1828

peak1902

1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 157 Some..travel Nature up To the sharp peak of her sublimest height, And tell us whence the stars.

1820 P. B. Shelley Hymn to Apollo v I stand at noon upon the peak of Heaven.

1865 Proc. Royal Soc. 14 33 When the ends of the ordinates are united, the curve beyond the red rises in a steep and massive peak, which quite dwarfs the luminous portion of the spectrum.

1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 233 Every summit in Evolution is the base of some grander peak.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 35/1 Accumulators will take the peaks of the load, relieving the machinery from sudden jerks.

1918 Times 22 Jan. 18/2 Pig-iron production, at its peak in October, had by February decreased about 16 per cent.

1923 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 6/4 During the morning, evening and theatre peaks, two escalators in each group can be run in either an upward or downward direction.

1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 212/1 The corresponding histogram of conjugated bilirubin is markedly bimodal, and also shows an artificial peak at 0·5 mg. (100 ml.).

1971 Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 68/2 It is a basic hi-fi requirement that peaks should be accommodated without serious distortion.

2002 Sport Fishing June 102/2 The peak of the king salmon spawning migration occurs in mid-June.

8. Extended and technical uses.

a. The pointed top of something.Often with some association of senses A. 1 or A. 7.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > [noun] > pointed object or part > at the top

pinnaclec1400

taper1589

peak1785

1785 E. Forbes in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 254 It [sc. lightning] entered at the west end [of the barn], just below the peak,—passed on the under side of the ridge-pole to a king-post.

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge iv. 253 It was..a shy, blinking house, with a conical roof going up into a peak over its garret window of four small panes of glass.

1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud vi. i, in Maud & Other Poems 24 The budded peaks of the wood are bow'd, Caught and cuff'd by the gale.

1913 J. Muir Story of my Boyhood vii. 257 It was to be placed on the peak of the barn roof.

1959 Times 5 Jan. 11/4 In a large clean bowl whisk whites of eggs till they stand up in peaks.

1996 J. C. Oates We were Mulvaneys 19 There was the rooster weathervane on the peak of the hay barn.

b. The occiput of a dog when prominent, as in setters and certain other breeds.

ΚΠ

1878 C. Hallock Hallock's Amer. Club List & Sportsman's Gloss. p. viii Peak, the high, sharp ridge-bone of a setter's head.

1952 C. L. B. Hubbard Pembrokeshire Corgi Handbk. 113 Peak, the term applied to the occiput when it is prominent, but rightly restricted to use with Bloodhounds, Basset Hounds and Setters.

2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 41 The occiput, occasionally called the occipital crest, peak or apex.

c. Phonetics. The most prominent sound in a syllable with regard to sonority (usually a vowel). Cf. nucleus n. 12a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [noun] > accent > stress accent > stress group > syllables with respect to

subtonic1827

pretone1884

pretonic1892

head1922

nucleus1922

tail1922

peak1935

post-nuclear1944

precontour1945

nuclear1949

tonic1962

1935 J. S. Kenyon Amer. Pronunc. (ed. 6) 69 The phonetic center, or ‘peak’ of a syllable is its point of greatest sonority.

1942 B. Bloch & G. L. Trager Outl. Ling. Anal. 22 The sounds which constitute the peaks of sonority are called syllabic.

1960 E. Sivertsen Cockney Phonol. ii. 23 Stressed simple syllable peaks do not occur before juncture, and there are other limitations in the distribution of unstressed peaks in this position.

1989 in B. Boguraev & T. Briscoe Computational Lexicogr. (new ed.) ii. 57 This is achieved using a parser for the pronunciation fields, which breaks them into syllables and, within a syllable, into onset, peak and coda.

d. Surfing. The highest point of a wave.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > [noun] > crest

ridgeOE

white nose1771

feather1838

crest1864

sea-cap1867

comb1886

soup1962

peak1963

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > types or parts of wave

pounder1927

dumper1933

take-off1935

greeny1940

beach break1954

beacher1956

big kahuna1959

greenback1959

close out1962

curl1962

shore break1962

shoulder1962

soup1962

tube1962

wall1962

face1963

peak1963

pipeline1963

set1963

reef break1965

surfable wave1965

point break1966

green room1968

slide1968

barrel1975

left-hander1980

A-frame1992

1963 Surfing Yearbk. 42/2 Peak, the highest point of the wave.

1965 M. Farrelly & C. McGregor This Surfing Life iv. 44/2 On most occasions in this sort of surf you take off straight down the peak.

1968 Surfer Jan. 48/1 The way the peak was breaking didn't offer many rights.

2001 Surfer's Path Dec. 46/1 He paddled out and took a set off the peak, drew a fade bottom turn like Fitzgerald at Sunset, snapped out of the lip, [etc.].

B. adj.

1. Of a varying quantity, etc.: that has reached a peak (sense A. 7b); maximum, greatest; optimal, first-rate.Recorded earliest in peak load n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree > maximum

uppermost1579

maxim1686

maximum1825

maximal1882

max1886

peak1903

maxed1978

1903 Electr. World & Engineer 23 May 866/2 It is necessary at times of fall and winter peak loads to operate the steam plants in the three combination sub-station and subsidiary steam plants which the company was operating three years ago.

1930 Daily Express 6 Sept. 10/1 Ordinary shares..reached a peak price of 26s. 10½d. during the ‘boom’.

1959 Ann. Reg. 1958 431 Mr. John Davis..anticipated attendance at the cinemas would have dropped during 1958 to..just over half the peak audiences achieved in the years immediately after the war.

1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. 133/1 Polyunsaturated fats for peak condition, healthy skin and coat, more efficient metabolism.

1973 S. Fisher Female Orgasm vii. 202 Ideation and fantasy do not..play a large or consistent role during the peak arousal phase.

2001 P. Caldwell Sleep Really Well (2003) v. 125 Most sleepwalking begins between the ages of four and twelve, with a peak incidence at age ten.

2. Relating to or characterized by a peak (sense A. 7b); esp. (of a time, period, etc.) during which a maximum is attained.Used esp. of radio or television audiences, vehicle traffic, or demand for or production of mains electricity. Frequently forming noun phrases used attributively, as peak-hour, peak-time, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > [noun] > travelling to and fro > of people or vehicles > time of most intense

rush hour1878

peak-hour1903

1903 Electr. World & Engineer 9 May 789/1 The direct-current ends of these rotary converters are often worked in multiple with an old generating station..during the peak-hours.

1919 Engineer 1 Aug. 107/1 ‘Peak-hour’ traffic.

1924 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 3/4 A drop of nearly £40,000,000 in pensions expenditure since the ‘peak’ year of 1920–21 is mentioned.

1946 Vogue (U.S. ed.) 1 Aug. 70/2 The Sunday evening peak-listening series, ‘The Challenge of our Time’, has sponsored Marxists such as Professors Haldane and Bernal.

1960 M. O'Conor et al. Children & Television Programmes iii. 8 Pressures of different kinds and degrees exist to compel the television organizations to seek very large audiences for at least some of the programmes placed within the peak viewing period.

1966 Listener 5 May 643/2 The peak age [for juvenile crime] is during the last year at school.

1989 Endless Vacation Jan.–Feb. 87/2 Jamaica's hotels and resorts have entered their peak winter season having undergone more than the customary touch-ups and refurbishing.

2003 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 12/6 Ministers plan to extend trials of ‘yellow buses’ for school transport to reduce peak-hour car use.

Compounds

C1.

peak climber n.

ΚΠ

1897 Edinb. Rev. July 56 Let the peak-climber reflect that there are between fifty and sixty heights in the chain.

1991 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 23 Feb. b4 He was a member of the Sierra Club and a chairman of its peak climbers and backpacking sections.

peak-bearded adj.

ΚΠ

1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor v, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 99 The pinched visage of the peak-bearded, black-capped puritan, or his starched withered spouse.

1905 Daily Chron. 12 Aug. 5/2 At one carriage a little baby-girl was held up by its mother to kiss farewell to a peak-bearded gloire bluejacket.

peak-crested adj.

ΚΠ

1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper 177 Blondinettes..are..peak-crested and plain-headed.

1984 D. F. Ison Fancy Pigeon Standards (ed. 2) 119 South German Clean Legged Monk... Head: Longish round with a forehead of minimum height, always peak crested.

peak-nosed adj.

ΚΠ

1789 G. White Let. in Nat. Hist. Selborne 280 The Kamschatdales also train the same sort of sharp-eared peak-nosed dogs to draw their sledges.

1871 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) I. 260 Just as this little peak-nosed parson does.

1992 S. Levy Artific. Life 217 A peak-nosed, ponytailed hacker working at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab.

peak-roofed adj.

ΚΠ

1823 T. Carlyle Let. 17 June in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1970) II. 382 Its [sc. Dunkeld's] old grey cathedral, and its peak-roofed white houses.

1898 Catholic World Dec. 348 Peak-roofed cottages, built of a composite of stone and sand, gazed stolidly at one another.

2002 Backwoods Home Mag. July 24/3 A yurt..is a circular, peak-roofed dwelling with a wooden lattice wall.

C2.

peak arch n. Architecture a pointed or Gothic arch.

ΚΠ

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1644/1 Peak-arch, a pointed, or Gothic arch.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 620/2 Peak arch, a pointed arch, such as a Gothic arch.

1972 B. Hannah Geronimo Rex ii. xii. 195 The façade [of the hut] was shingles with a peak arch and a Falstaff beer billboard off its stand.

peak-brail n. Nautical (now rare) any of the brails attached to the peak of a sail.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for furling sails

wyning1295

brailsa1450

clew-garnet1626

furling-line1626

buntline1627

clew-line1627

slabline1647

peak-brail1711

throat brail1769

buntline-span1882

1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 129 Names of the Standing and Running Rigging. Mizon-Mast. Peek-brails.

1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 161 Span-blocks are fitted on the gaff or the inner and outer peak-brails.

1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 162 Smaller vessels are only fitted with one peak-brail.

peak cap n. a cap with a peak, a peaked cap.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > peaked

peaked cap1840

peak cap1867

duncher1914

1867 Times 5 Nov. 6/1 He had a common peak cap, not turned up with a riband.

1903 Daily Chron. 16 Apr. 5/1 Peak caps are coming into fashion... Every second young man, and every third man of years, was wearing a cap in the pattern of those used for motoring.

1994 P. Grescoe Blood Vessel 186 The skipper was a beefy guy in blue coveralls and an oil-spattered peak cap.

peak-capped adj. (a) (of a mountain, etc.) capped with peaks (rare); (b) wearing a peaked cap.

ΚΠ

1869 R. F. Burton Explor. Highlands Brazil I. 193 The peak-capped wall of Curral d'El-Rei.

1913 Times 11 Nov. 4/1 The peak-capped veterans were heartily cheered.

1972 Drive Spring 147/1 A peak-capped driver at the helm of a Rolls-Royce Corniche.

2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 iii. 81 We don't even get a gas man any more, we get a peak-capped ponce of a pop star.

peak clipping n. (a) Phonetics the practice of cutting short syllable peaks when speaking (see sense A. 8c); (b) limitation of the peaks of an audio signal.

ΚΠ

1951 G. A. Miller Lang. & Communication iii. 73 With peak clipping the consonants actually become as strong as the vowel sounds, and a limited amount of peak clipping makes the speech sound crisp and clearly pronounced.

1961 Which? July 156/1 There are two accepted methods for achieving loudness compression. One is called A.V.C. and the other peak clipping.

1993 Which? Aug. 50/3 The cheapest models of body-worn and behind-the-ear aids should have a T-switch and peak clipping as standard.

peak downhaul n. Nautical (now rare) a rope attached to the peak of a gaff, by which it may be hauled down.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope for raising or lowering gaff

peak halyard1728

throat halyard1769

peak downhaul1825

1825 Times 7 Nov. 3/2 The peak downhaul caught him round the middle, and, before he could clear it, the other part of the downhaul caught the mast-head of a fishing smack.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak downhaul, a rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by.

1908 A. J. Kenealy Boat Sailing (ed. 8) xi The running rigging of a mainsail consists of peak and throat halyards, topping lifts, main sheet and peak downhaul.

peak experience n. Psychology a momentary awareness of joy or fulfilment, akin to ecstasy and of a higher and different quality from ordinary experience.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > [noun] > momentary

peak experience1959

1959 E. G. Schachtel Metamorphosis viii. 177 His [sc. A. H. Maslow's] ‘peak experience’ is characterized by what I call allocentric perception.

1962 A. H. Maslow Toward Psychol. of Being iii. vi. 69 An attempt to generalize in a single description some of these basic cognitive happenings... These and other moments of highest happiness and fulfilment I shall call the peak-experiences.

1975 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 22 Feb. 20/2 I underwent a religious-like peak experience in which the presence of divinity became almost palpable.

1992 W. Kaminer I'm Dysfunctional, you're Dysfunctional (1993) iii. 58 ‘Peakers’, people who enjoyed more than the usual share of peak experience, were subjective without being selfist.

peak factor n. the ratio of the maximum value (or the difference between the maximum and minimum values) of an electromagnetic wave to the r.m.s. value.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > [noun] > maximum value > ratio

crest factor1914

peak factor1914

1914 H. Pender Amer. Handbk. Electr. Engineers 1297 Crest-factor or peak-factor is the ratio of the crest or maximum value to the r.m.s. value.

1963 G. E. Williams & B. J. Prigmore Electr. Engin. vii. 185 When deciding whether a particular voltage can be safely applied to an insulator, the r.m.s. value must be multiplied by the peak factor.

1991 Telecommunications & Radio Engin. 46 viii. 98 The interrelation between three characteristics of a signal at the input of a channel—its peak factor, the degree of rectangularity of its spectrum, and its keying rate.

peak halyard n. Nautical a rope or tackle for hoisting the peak of a gaff.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope for raising or lowering gaff

peak halyard1728

throat halyard1769

peak downhaul1825

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Ship [Plate Fig. i. 8] Peak Hallyards.

1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. i. 9 Made it fast to the peak halyards and hoisted it up.

1990 Illustr. London News Christmas No. 101/1 The main peak halyard hung broken over the side. The compass was broken.

peak limiting n. = peak clipping n. (b).

ΚΠ

1959 B.S.I. News Dec. 14 Recommendations regarding automatic gain control or peak limiting have also been excluded.

1991 Electronic Musician Nov. 12/1 A 1U rack-mounted, multi-function signal processor that offers simultaneous peak limiting and compression, gating or expansion.

peak nucleus n. Phonetics (now rare) a vowel which forms the nucleus of the peak of a syllable.

ΚΠ

1960 E. Sivertsen Cockney Phonol. ii. 13 A simple peak consists of one of the six vowels. A complex peak consists of one of the six vowels as peak nucleus plus one of the peak satellites [sc. /h/, /j/, and /w/].

1963 Amer. Speech 38 57 Even if one were to agree that /h/ as an onset consonant ‘is a voiceless anticipation of the following peak nucleus’ [etc.].

peak piece n. Nautical (now rare) a piece of canvas used to strengthen the peak of a sail.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > material of sails > piece of canvas strengthening sail > at peak

peak piece1794

1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 93 Mizens..have a nock-piece and a peek-piece.

1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 44 These sails are lined with a clew piece of whole breadth..; a peak piece, also of whole breadth, from the peak to about four or five feet down the leech..; also [etc.].

peak programme meter n. an instrument for monitoring transient peaks in a signal; abbreviated PPM.

ΚΠ

1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 23 Peak programme meter, instrument used (especially for the purpose of facilitating control) to measure the volume of programme peaks, averaged over a period of less than one-hundredth of a second.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio v. 94 There are several types of meter that can be used to line up equipment or check for overmodulation; but a ‘peak programme meter’ (PPM) seems to be the most satisfactory instrument.

1995 Electronic Media (Nexis) 26 June 14 He also advised getting a VU (volume unit) meter and a Peak Program Meter to measure audio.

peak purchase n. Nautical a purchase (purchase n. 16) attached to the peak halyards of a gaff.

ΚΠ

1862 ‘Vanderdecken’ Yacht Sailor ii. 19 Finish up the setting by the peak purchase.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak purchase, a purchase fitted in cutters to the standing peak-halliards to sway it up taut.

2003 www.oytnw.org.uk 12 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) Go up on the peak purchase until diagonal crease appears from tack to peak. Make off.

peak satellite n. Phonetics (now rare) a semivowel associated with a peak nucleus (see quot. 1960).

ΚΠ

peak shaving n. the use of stored electricity or gas (esp. produced when demand is low) to boost the supply at peak periods and reduce the output level required at those times; also as adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > gas or types of gas > [noun] > storage of gas

peak shaving1951

1951 Wright County (Clarion, Iowa) Monitor 11 Jan. 3/7 The Company will install a peak shaving gas plant to supply the additional needs of all bonafide applicants..which require not over 1000 cubic feet of gas per hour per customer.

1954 Statesville (N. Carolina) Daily Record 23 Mar. 5/7 (advt.) The high-cost manufactured gas facilities will be on standby for peak-shaving purposes.

2003 Triangle Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 20 June 23 The new building will have its own electrical generators, which will help decrease the electrical load to the building through ‘peak shaving’.

peak tie n. Nautical a tie used to hoist the peak of a heavy gaff.

ΚΠ

1883 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) III. 393/3 Peak tye, a tye used in some ships for hoisting the peak of a heavy gaff.

2003 www2.friend.ly.net 12 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) The peak tie loops over a groove at the end of the spar and through a hole.

peak-to-mean adj. measured or expressed as the difference between the extreme and mean values of a periodically varying quantity.

ΚΠ

1965 Wireless World July 329/1 A recording level indicator should essentially be a peak registering type because music has a large peak-to-mean ratio.

1977 Jrnl. Appl. Ecol. 14 861 Point sources, such as factories.., have high peak-to-mean pollutant ratios and..large rural areas near conurbations..have low peak-to-mean pollutant ratios.

2002 Metalworking Production (Nexis) 31 May 37 For welding and drilling small parts, the high peak to mean ratio of pulsed YAG lasers helps to avoid overheating and distortion.

peak-to-peak adv. and adj. (a) adv. between extreme values of a periodically varying quantity; (b) adj. measured or expressed as the difference between extreme values of a periodically varying quantity.

ΚΠ

1922 Indianapolis Star 1 June 4/4 The radio waves are of definite length just as the ripples from a stone made in water are of different length measured from peak to peak.]

1945 Proc. Royal Soc. 1944–5 B. 132 425 Record (f), calibrating a.c. of 5 mV peak-to-peak and frequency 1000 per sec.

1962 J. H. Simpson & R. S. Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors ix. 219 The shift due to the rise in ambient temperature is thus relatively small and can be tolerated for peak-to-peak output-current swings of about 7 mA.

1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 80/2 (advt.) Model 900 Nanovolt Galvanometer. Noise: Less than 2 nV or (2 pA) peak-to-peak for all source resistances.

1991 Lancet 2 Mar. 517/1 The technique is based on peak-to-peak measurements of fast background electroencephalographic activity during a visual evoked potential (VEP) study.

peak-to-valley adj. = peak-to-peak adv. and adj. (b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > particle accelerator > [adjective] > of track: showing extreme differences

peak-to-valley1952

1952 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 212 480 h_max. denotes the peak-to-valley height of the original irregularities.

1992 Nature 5 Nov. 71 (caption) Amplitude histograms with evenly spaced peaks and a high ‘peak-to-valley’ ratio will give relatively high positive scores.

peak voltmeter n. a voltmeter that measures the peak value of an alternating voltage.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun] > unit of electromotive force > instrument measuring

voltmeter1882

millivoltmeter1907

multimeter1907

kilovoltmeter1923

peak voltmeter1924

1924 Jrnl. Sci. Instruments 1 281 A compact peak voltmeter, using a thermionic rectifier for measuring positive and negative peak voltages up to 600 volts, is described.

1967 IEEE Trans. Electr. Insulation 2 80/2 The peak voltmeter may find wide application in corona routine measurements.

1988 Tasmanian Country (Nexis) 15 Apr. A robust, portable digital peak voltmeter for fence line checking.

peak white n. a small pierid butterfly, Pontia callidice (or P. occidentalis), of alpine meadows in Eurasia and western North America.

ΚΠ

1970 L. G. Higgins & N. D. Riley Field Guide Butterflies Brit. & Europe 50 Pontia callidice. Peak white... From Pyrenees and Alps through Asia Minor and Lebanon to Himalaya Mts., [etc.].

1998 tr. V. Sbordoni & S. Forestiero Butterflies of World 246 (caption) Peak white (Pontia callidice, Pieridae).

Derivatives

ˈpeak-like adj.

ΚΠ

1876 W. E. Griffis Mikado's Empire i. ii. 18 As Fuji, with his tall satellites, sweeps up from the land, so Japan itself rises up, peak-like, from the sea.

1894 Geogr. Jrnl. 4 412 The only peak-like elevations upon it are an irregularly distributed series of small volcanic bosses.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xxv. 547 How could tiny man out of earth and upon earth rear in such enchantment of line and color those enormous masses, those peak-like piercings of the sky?

2000 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 14049/1 The supernatant scattering has no peak-like features, consistent with all lipid and DNA contained within the isoelectric complexes.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† peakn.³

Forms: 1500s pek, 1500s peke.

Origin: Apparently formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: hoddypeak n.

Etymology: Apparently short for hoddypeak n.

Obsolete.

A silly or foolish person; a dolt, a fool. Also peak-hoddy, peak-noddy.Quot. 1509 at peak n.² 2a was given in N.E.D. (1904) as an example of peak v.¹

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > stupid person, dolt, blockhead > [noun]

asseOE

sotc1000

beastc1225

long-ear?a1300

stock1303

buzzard1377

mis-feelinga1382

dasarta1400

stonea1400

dasiberd14..

dottlec1400

doddypoll1401

dastardc1440

dotterel1440

dullardc1440

wantwit1449

jobardc1475

nollc1475

assheada1500

mulea1500

dull-pate15..

peak1509

dulbert?a1513

doddy-patec1525

noddypolla1529

hammer-head1532

dull-head?1534

capon1542

dolt1543

blockhead1549

cod's head1549

mome1550

grout-head1551

gander1553

skit-brains?1553

blocka1556

calfa1556

tomfool1565

dunce1567

druggard1569

cobble1570

dummel1570

Essex calf1573

jolthead1573

hardhead1576

beetle-head1577

dor-head1577

groutnoll1578

grosshead1580

thickskin1582

noddyship?1589

jobbernowl1592

beetle-brain1593

Dorbel1593

oatmeal-groat1594

loggerhead1595

block-pate1598

cittern-head1598

noddypoop1598

dorbellist1599

numps1599

dor1601

stump1602

ram-head1605

look-like-a-goose1606

ruff1606

clod1607

turf1607

asinego1609

clot-poll1609

doddiea1611

druggle1611

duncecomb1612

ox-head1613

clod-polla1616

dulman1615

jolterhead1620

bullhead1624

dunderwhelpa1625

dunderhead1630

macaroona1631

clod-patea1635

clota1637

dildo1638

clot-pate1640

stupid1640

clod-head1644

stub1644

simpletonian1652

bottle-head1654

Bœotiana1657

vappe1657

lackwit1668

cudden1673

plant-animal1673

dolt-head1679

cabbage head1682

put1688

a piece of wood1691

ouphe1694

dunderpate1697

numbskull1697

leather-head1699

nocky1699

Tom Cony1699

mopus1700

bluff-head1703

clod skull1707

dunny1709

dowf1722

stupe1722

gamphrel1729

gobbin?1746

duncehead1749

half-wit1755

thick-skull1755

jackass1756

woollen-head1756

numbhead1757

beef-head1775

granny1776

stupid-head1792

stunpolla1794

timber-head1794

wether heada1796

dummy1796

noghead1800

staumrel1802

muttonhead1803

num1807

dummkopf1809

tumphya1813

cod's head and shoulders1820

stoopid1823

thick-head1824

gype1825

stob1825

stookiea1828

woodenhead1831

ning-nong1832

log-head1834

fat-head1835

dunderheadism1836

turnip1837

mudhead1838

donkey1840

stupex1843

cabbage1844

morepork1845

lubber-head1847

slowpoke1847

stupiditarian1850

pudding-head1851

cod's head and shoulders1852

putty head1853

moke1855

mullet-head1855

pothead1855

mug1857

thick1857

boodle1862

meathead1863

missing link1863

half-baked1866

lunk1867

turnip-head1869

rummy1872

pumpkin-head1876

tattie1879

chump1883

dully1883

cretin1884

lunkhead1884

mopstick1886

dumbhead1887

peanut head1891

pie-face1891

doughbakea1895

butt-head1896

pinhead1896

cheesehead1900

nyamps1900

box head1902

bonehead1903

chickenhead1903

thickwit1904

cluck1906

boob1907

John1908

mooch1910

nitwit1910

dikkop1913

goop1914

goofus1916

rumdum1916

bone dome1917

moron1917

oik1917

jabroni1919

dumb-bell1920

knob1920

goon1921

dimwit1922

ivory dome1923

stone jug1923

dingleberry1924

gimp1924

bird brain1926

jughead1926

cloth-head1927

dumb1928

gazook1928

mouldwarp1928

ding-dong1929

stupido1929

mook1930

sparrow-brain1930

knobhead1931

dip1932

drip1932

epsilon1932

bohunkus1933

Nimrod1933

dumbass1934

zombie1936

pea-brain1938

knot-head1940

schlump1941

jarhead1942

Joe Soap1943

knuckle-head1944

nong1944

lame-brain1945

gobshite1946

rock-head1947

potato head1948

jerko1949

turkey1951

momo1953

poop-head1955

a right one1958

bam1959

nong-nong1959

dickhead1960

dumbo1960

Herbert1960

lamer1961

bampot1962

dipshit1963

bamstick1965

doofus1965

dick1966

pillock1967

zipperhead1967

dipstick1968

thickie1968

poephol1969

yo-yo1970

doof1971

cockhead1972

nully1973

thicko1976

wazzock1976

motorhead1979

mouth-breather1979

no-brainer1979

jerkwad1980

woodentop1981

dickwad1983

dough ball1983

dickweed1984

bawheid1985

numpty1985

jerkweed1988

dick-sucker1989

knob-end1989

Muppet1989

dingus1997

dicksack1999

eight ball-

1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. sig. F.i A naye of you myght cause my herte to breke Alas I wretche and yet vnhappy peke Into suche trouble mysery and thought With syght of you I am in to it brought.

a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. B.ii^v The doterell that folyshe pek.

a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.vii^v Of suche Pater noster pekes All the worlde spekes.

1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Niez, an idiote, a peke hoddie [1593 noddie], a simple soule, a snekesbie.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† peakn.⁴

Forms: pre-1700 peick, pre-1700 peik, pre-1700 peke.

Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.⁴

Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.⁴ Compare Middle Dutch pēke , Middle Low German pēk , peek , peik (German regional (Low German) Peek ). Compare peak n.²

Scottish. Obsolete.

A type of weapon with a long wooden shaft and a pointed metal head; = pike n.⁴ Also: a soldier armed with such a weapon; a pikeman.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > pike > [noun]

staff-swordc1000

pike1487

pick1515

javelin1520

peak1543

1543 J. Stewart of Cardonald Let. 4 Oct. in Sc. Corr. Mary of Lorraine (1927) 34 To that effk thai and I the gedder hes brocht sellvar and artellery monesyzonis pekes and halbardes.

1547 in A. I. Cameron Sc. Corr. Mary of Lorraine (1927) 210 An thousand men of ordinance, hakbutteris and peikkis.

1668 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1909) 3rd Ser. II. 571 Peicks.

This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

peakn.⁵adv.

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: 1700s peek, 1700s– peak.

Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: a-peak adv.

Etymology: Aphetic < a-peak adv., apparently sometimes arising from mistaken analysis of the adverb as a peak , indefinite article and noun. Compare earlier pike n.⁶

Nautical. Now chiefly historical.

A. n.⁵ In phrases describing the disposition of a ship or its rigging.

†a. to ride a broad peak: (of a ship) to have the yards approximately in the shape of the letter X. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Peek To Ride a broad Peek, is much after the same manner [as to ride a-peak], only the Yards are raised up but half so high.

b. Defining the position of a ship in relation to that of the anchor cable. See also stay-peak at stay n.¹ 2c. stay-peak n. a position in which the anchor cable is in line with the forestay. short stay-peak n. a position when the anchor is too close to the ship to form this line; to ride a short stay-peak: to ride at anchor such that the anchor cable and forestay form a straight line. short peak n. = stay-peak n. long peak n. a position in which the anchor cable is in line with the mainstay.

ΚΠ

1787 W. Hutchinson Treat. Pract. Seamanship (ed. 2) 250 When hove to a long peak by the windlass till a great strain is felt upon it by the ship's quick rising with the waves.

1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 117 A stay-peak is when the cable and forestay form a line. A short stay-peak is when the cable is too much in to form this line.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) Ride a short stay peak, is when the cable and fore-stay form a line; a long peak is when the cable is in line with the main-stay.

1985 P. Clissold Ansted's Dict. Sea Terms (ed. 3) 212 To stay peak, or ride a short peak or long peak (of old ships). When the cable and forestay were in about the same straight line it was a short peak. With the main stay and cable in a line, it was a long peak.

B. adv.

= a-peak adv. a.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [adverb] > positions of yards

a-trip1626

a-peak1692

abox1801

peak1867

box1886

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) To stay peak..is when the cable and fore-stay form a line.

1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 127/1 An anchor chain is said to stay peak when leading a little forward; to short stay peak when the anchor is underfoot.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† peakn.⁶

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: peak v.¹

Etymology: < peak v.¹ (compare sense 3 at that entry).

poetic. Obsolete. rare.

The action of languishing, pining, or wasting away. Only in peak and pine (cf. peak v.¹ 3).

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] > reduced vitality

depression1803

collapsing1855

peak and pine1868

devitalization1871

the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > action of becoming dejected

moping1638

sinking1653

desponding1818

peak and pine1868

1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. II. v. 141 The Babe's face, premature with peak and pine, Sank into wrinkled ruinous old age.

1887 F. W. L. Adams Poet. Wks. 95 And I held here By inactive malady's peak and pine.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2020).

peakn.⁷

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/, Irish English

/piːk/,

/peːk/

Forms: 1900s– pake, 1900s– peak, 1900s– peek, 1900s– peke.

Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.²

Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.² (compare sense 2 at that entry); compare peak n.² Compare pook n.

Chiefly Irish English (northern).

= pike n.² 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > stooking > stook or cock > stack or rick in field

pike1565

pook1607

wind-cock1610

pout1686

wind-mow1811

peak1953

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 206/2 Pake,..a stack of hay in the haggard.

1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 258 Haystack, [Wigtown] pake (stack),..[Tyrone] pake, peak,..[Londonderry] pake, peek.

a1981 G. B. Adams in M. Barry & P. Tilling Eng. Dial. Ulster (1986) 63 Peak, Peke, the final or penultimate hay heap.

1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 253/1 Pike, pake, peak, peek, pack, peck,..a usually round, conical haystack built either temporarily in a hayfield or in a stackyard.

This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

peakv.¹

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: late Middle English–1500s peke, 1500s peeke, 1500s–1600s peake, 1500s– peak.

Origin: Of unknown origin.

Etymology: Origin unknown.It is not certain that all the senses placed here have a common origin. With sense 2 perhaps compare peak n.³ Sense 3 is sometimes taken as alluding to the sharp or emaciated features of a sick person, and hence to be derived from peak n.², but this probably represents a folk etymology. With sense 4 compare peck v.² 1. The 1509 quotation given in N.E.D. (1904) as an example of this verb, in the sense ‘? to fall, drop, sink’, is now regarded as illustrating peak n.³ (see quot. 1509 at peak n.³).

Now rare.

†1. intransitive. To slink, creep, steal along; to shrink away. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > move backwards [verb (intransitive)] > retire, withdraw, or retreat

withdraw1297

recoilc1330

give place1382

arrear1399

to draw backa1400

resortc1425

adrawc1450

recedec1450

retraya1470

returna1470

rebut1481

wyke1481

umbedrawc1485

retreata1500

retract1535

retire1542

to give back1548

regress1552

to fall back?1567

peak1576

flinch1578

to fall offa1586

to draw off1602

to give ground1607

retrograde1613

to train off1796

to beat a retreat1861

to back off1938

c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 178 (MED) Thus did y so depart the feleship And gan me forth to my poor loggyng peke; But alle that nyght myn hert did rore & seke.

?1532 Tales & Quicke Answeres sig. Biv Conon peaked in to the courte, and stode where the kynge shulde passe by.

1550 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebell. 70 Wyat him selfe and v.C. men..peked on styll all alonge vnder sainct Iames parke wall, vntyll he came to charinge crosse.

1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 287 This done, our Ladye shrancke againe into her shryne, and the Clerke peaked home to patche vp his broken sleepe.

1598 R. Tofte Alba ii. sig. E3^v Not like vaine pleasure, who away doth peake, When he his Bark through want perceiues to leake.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 42 He over-rules him in his journey, that hee might not peake aside into this corner or that.

†2. intransitive. To wander about dejectedly; to mope. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > be or become dejected [verb (intransitive)] > look dejected > move dejectedly

peak1568

1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau ii. ii. sig. C.ij^v Fye brother Esau, what a foly is this? About vaine pastime to wander abroade and peake, Til with hunger you make your selfe thus faint & weake.

1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne ii. 57 And she or scornes, or seeth not, or gaue No semblance, so till then par [perh. read poor] thrall he peakt [It. il misero ha servito].

a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) Pref. sig. E3 How much more would they..let him goe peaking alone after he hath been so corrupted.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 569 Yet I, A dull and muddy metteld raskall peake, Like Iohn-a-dreames,..And can say nothing.

1680 T. Shadwell Woman-captain iii. 36 He shall not stay. Ladies, you don't know what you do, If I shou'd suffer him, he'ld always be peaking after me.

3. intransitive. To flag or fail in health and spirits; to languish, waste away; to become sickly or emaciated. In later use only in to peak and pine (sometimes apparently echoing Shakespeare: see quot. a1616).In quot. 1580 probably with admixture of sense 2. In quot. 1789 transitive with away: to lose (time) in languishing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)]

sicka1150

langernc1440

aila1500

peak1580

languisha1616

suffer1800

underfunction1941

the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > be or become dejected [verb (intransitive)]

heavyOE

fallOE

droopena1225

lourc1290

droopc1330

to abate one's countenance (also cheer)a1350

dullc1374

fainta1375

languora1375

languisha1382

afflicta1393

gloppen?a1400

weary1434

appalc1450

to have one's heart in one's boots (also shoes, heels, hose, etc.)c1450

peak1580

dumpc1585

mopea1592

sink1603

bate1607

deject1644

despond1655

alamort?1705

sadden1718

dismal1780

munge1790

mug1828

to get one's tail down1853

to have (also get) the pip1881

shadow1888

to have (one's) ass in a sling1960

1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 64^v Poore sillie hen, long wanting cock to guide, Soone droopes and shortly then, beginnes to peake aside.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 22 Wearie Seu'nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peake, and pine.

a1652 R. Brome Eng. Moor i. i. 1 in Five New Playes (1659) What! suffer you to pine, and peak away In your unnatural melancholy fits.

1709 Brit. Apollo 1–6 July This is no Pin-buttock'd Wench, That Peaks as if she'd took a Drench.

1789 C. Smith Ethelinde V. ix. 195 After pining and peaking away twelve or fourteen years of your best looking days.

1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. i. ii. 13 Croining and dwining, peaking and pining, at the fire-side.

1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Peak, to waste and dwindle in flesh.

1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xvii. 149 She peaked an' pined, an' died when Billy P. was about fifteen or so.

1922 Times 1 Apr. 14/5 One little boy who had not grown for three years and had peaked and pined, suddenly began to put on weight and look happy.

1940 Times 24 Feb. 2/5 Presently one of the bullocks began to peak and pine; it grew more and more emaciated, ‘physicians were in vain,’ and it died.

1995 Opera News (Nexis) June 14 The drama component came blazing to life in 1992..but then quickly dwindled, peaked and pined to cynicism and going through the motions.

†4. intransitive. to peak over the perch: to fall off one's perch (in quot. a1641 figurative: to die). Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)]

forsweltc888

sweltc888

adeadeOE

deadc950

wendeOE

i-wite971

starveOE

witea1000

forfereOE

forthfareOE

forworthc1000

to go (also depart , pass, i-wite, chare) out of this worldOE

queleOE

fallOE

to take (also nim, underfo) (the) deathOE

to shed (one's own) blood?a1100

diec1135

endc1175

farec1175

to give up the ghostc1175

letc1200

aswelta1250

leavea1250

to-sweltc1275

to-worthc1275

to yield (up) the ghost (soul, breath, life, spirit)c1290

finea1300

spilla1300

part?1316

to leese one's life-daysa1325

to nim the way of deathc1325

to tine, leave, lose the sweatc1330

flit1340

trance1340

determinec1374

disperisha1382

to go the way of all the eartha1382

to be gathered to one's fathers1382

miscarryc1387

shut1390

goa1393

to die upa1400

expirea1400

fleea1400

to pass awaya1400

to seek out of lifea1400–50

to sye hethena1400

tinea1400

trespass14..

espirec1430

to end one's days?a1439

decease1439

to go away?a1450

ungoc1450

unlivec1450

to change one's lifea1470

vade1495

depart1501

to pay one's debt to (also the debt of) naturea1513

to decease this world1515

to go over?1520

jet1530

vade1530

to go westa1532

to pick over the perch1532

galpa1535

to die the death1535

to depart to God1548

to go home1561

mort1568

inlaikc1575

shuffle1576

finish1578

to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587

relent1587

unbreathe1589

transpass1592

to lose one's breath1596

to make a die (of it)1611

to go offa1616

fail1623

to go out1635

to peak over the percha1641

exita1652

drop1654

to knock offa1657

to kick upa1658

to pay nature her due1657

ghost1666

to march off1693

to die off1697

pike1697

to drop off1699

tip (over) the perch1699

to pass (also go, be called, etc.) to one's reward1703

sink1718

vent1718

to launch into eternity1719

to join the majority1721

demise1727

to pack off1735

to slip one's cable1751

turf1763

to move off1764

to pop off the hooks1764

to hop off1797

to pass on1805

to go to glory1814

sough1816

to hand in one's accounts1817

to slip one's breatha1819

croak1819

to slip one's wind1819

stiffen1820

weed1824

buy1825

to drop short1826

to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) to1839

to get one's (also the) call1839

to drop (etc.) off the hooks1840

to unreeve one's lifeline1840

to step out1844

to cash, pass or send in one's checks1845

to hand in one's checks1845

to go off the handle1848

to go under1848

succumb1849

to turn one's toes up1851

to peg out1852

walk1858

snuff1864

to go or be up the flume1865

to pass outc1867

to cash in one's chips1870

to go (also pass over) to the majority1883

to cash in1884

to cop it1884

snuff1885

to belly up1886

perch1886

to kick the bucket1889

off1890

to knock over1892

to pass over1897

to stop one1901

to pass in1904

to hand in one's marble1911

the silver cord is loosed1911

pip1913

to cross over1915

conk1917

to check out1921

to kick off1921

to pack up1925

to step off1926

to take the ferry1928

peg1931

to meet one's Maker1933

to kiss off1935

to crease it1959

zonk1968

cark1977

to cark it1979

to take a dirt nap1981

a1641 T. Heywood & W. Rowley Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) iii. 25 If he should peak over the pearch now, and all fall to our elder Brother.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

peakv.²

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: 1500s peeke, 1500s peke, 1500s 1700s– peak, 1500s–1600s peake, 1700s pique.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: peak n.²

Etymology: < peak n.²Sense 3b may perhaps belong at peak v.¹ (compare sense 3).

a. intransitive. To project or rise in a peak. Also occasionally transitive (in passive) in same sense. Frequently with up.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > taper to a point [verb (intransitive)]

sharpa1200

peak1577

sharpen1611

acuminate1641

the world > space > relative position > high position > be in high position [verb (intransitive)] > rise to a summit

peak1577

culminate1665

apex1895

the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill or mountain > [verb (intransitive)] > rise in peak

peak1577

spire1687

1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iii. f. 14/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I To eschew the daunger of the craggy rockes there on euery side of the shore peaking.

1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 52 Thee mount Leucates..Vp peaks to the viewing.

1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Dvii An other sort..are content with no kind of Hatt, without a great bunche of feathers,..peaking on toppe of their heades.

1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xv. x. 47 In these Cottian Alpes,..there peaketh up a mightie high mount, that no man almost can passe over without danger.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 556 The West part [of Derbyshire]..riseth high and peaketh up with hils & mountaines.

1716 J. Blanch Speculum Commercii 26 The Fashion of high Head Attire, peaked up like Horns, and long train'd Gowns for Women.

1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) xii. 307 Above that they had a brow-band, which came piquing down before, betwixt their eye-brows.

1852 B. R. Hall Frank Freeman's Barber Shop xv. 266 That cravat!—how superbly it was built up in white from his ruffled breast to his beardless chin..while that chin peaked up in a heaven defying style!

1865 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 330 The woolly hair..peaks down over the low forehead.

1922 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 14 Mar. 14/8 The prairie farms of Central Illinois resembled lakes with a little knoll peaking up here and there.

1976 Woman's Day (N.Y.) Nov. 100/2 Don't overpluck, overpencil or change the place where your brows peak.

2000 Des Moines (Iowa) Reg. (Nexis) 25 Dec. 1 a A gentle face accented by bushy dark eyebrows that peak sharp as mountain tops when he talks.

b. intransitive. Surfing. Of a wave: to come to a peak just before breaking. Frequently with up.

ΚΠ

1962 T. Masters Surfing made Easy 65 Peak up, when a swell begins to break.

1965 J. M. Kelly Surf & Sea iii. 39 This is where the wave peaks up and first starts breaking.

1987 K. Lette Girls' Night Out (1989) 189 With no one else out there it's really hard to judge where the sets are peaking. I sat astride my board.

a. transitive. To bring to a head; to bring to a peak or maximum; to accentuate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [verb (transitive)] > bring to or form highest point

to bring to a head1603

culminate1659

cumulate1660

climax1807

pinnacle1840

peak1887

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (transitive)] > attach importance to > render outstanding

aggravate1549

accent1595

to lay weight upon1600

emphase1631

circumflect1643

to lay (also place, put) stress on (also upon)1653

to set home1656

forestall1657

circumflex1661

signalize1698

to lay stress, weight, emphasis on or upon1748

emphasize1793

accentuate1817

stress1845

to rub in1851

to draw out1855

underline1880

punctuate1883

peak1887

underscore1891

to point up1926

1887 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 770 The accumulation of the national wealth..serves mostly to heighten and peak the great social inequalities as between the capitalist and the jobbing day labourer.

1961 T. H. White Making of President 1960 xii. 296 He might move his campaign into its third, or final phase, ‘peaking’ it for impact on the week end before election.

1990 Ironman Oct. 40/1 [Bodybuilding] is something I enjoy doing. I don't want it to become a job... I don't want..to have to peak my body every three or four months.

b. transitive. Broadcasting and Sound Recording. To raise (the level of a signal, part of a sound mix, etc.). Also: to adjust (a control) so as to maximize the level of a signal, etc. Frequently with up.

ΚΠ

1957 Pract. Wireless 33 718/2 When a station is found, the trimmers of range 5 are adjusted to peak it up.

1960 Pract. Wireless 36 375/2 Trimmers can be peaked for minimum meter reading.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ix. 158 As the scene comes to a close the speech is faded down and the effects are lifted to swamp the line. Then after the effects have been peaked for a few seconds they too can be slowly faded out.

1970 Single Sideband for Radio Amateur (Amer. Radio Relay League) (ed. 5) i. 22/2 The first step is to peak the i.f. transformers for the midband frequency of the filter.

2001 Sound & Video Contractor (Nexis) Dec. 14 I could have used the analyzer to peak up the waveforms for the best signal.

a. intransitive. To reach a peak or highest point; to attain maximum activity, intensity, number, value, etc.; (also) to reach peak condition. Also with up: to increase.Frequently with connotation of a subsequent fall or diminution.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > advance, progress, or develop [verb (intransitive)] > reach highest point

to grow to a head1579

culminatea1662

climax1882

peak1937

1937 G. Sykes Colorado Delta iii. 39 Following upon the years of rather moderate discharge, the summer flood of 1890 had peaked up slightly above the average.

1954 Times 15 Dec. 15/1 The demand for aircraft products appears to have peaked for the time being.

1966 Punch 24 Aug. 238/1 Athletes are an awkward squad... Why does a young man fail to reach his potential on the day?.. His anxiety level is so high that he peaks too early.

1986 ‘J. le Carré’ Perfect Spy ix. 226 Paul had peaked early in life. Twenty years ago he had written promising plays... He wrote them still.

2003 A. N. LeBlanc Random Family xxxviii. 359 Albany styles..had already risen, peaked, and died in the Bronx.

b. intransitive. colloquial (chiefly New Zealand). To decline or fall away from a peak of performance, condition, etc.; (also) to fail to perform a set task, to baulk. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1937 M. E. C. Scott Barbara Prospers 206 The horses had peaked on him.

1953 T. A. G. Hungerford Riverslake 130 The head-betters..now tumbled to the run of tails, and before long the game began to peak.

1971 P. Newton Ten Thousand Dogs 145 I nearly peaked when the time came [to shoot my old dog] but the old chap never even knew I was there, and it was over in a split second.

c. intransitive. Originally and chiefly U.S. With out. To level off after reaching a peak.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > be unchanging [verb (intransitive)] > cease to change

peak1940

plateau1951

to level off (or out)1958

1940 Wall St. Jrnl. 14 Feb. 17/1 It is realized, however, that earning power may have peaked out around December and that it may settle back to a somewhat lower figure starting this year.

1958 Washington Post 2 June A12/5 The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the cost of living index is ‘peaking out’. He follows this with the even more remarkable statement that the index may creep up further this summer after peaking out now.

1971 Daily Tel. 2 Mar. 18/6 Since margins peaked out in the latter half of 1969 returns have not been so impressive and the rate of profit growth between the two halves has slackened from 7 p.c. to 5 p.c.

2003 St. Louis (Missouri) Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 7 Nov. 26 The Federal Reserve estimates check volume peaked out at 49 billion a couple of years ago.

4. intransitive. colloquial. To have a peak experience (peak experience n. at peak n.² and adj. Compounds 2), esp. through the effects of drugs.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > be rapturous or ecstatic [verb (intransitive)] > go into ecstasies > momentarily

peak1970

1970 J. Howard Please Touch 20 People who ‘peak’ can transcend the mundane and feel ecstatically fulfilled.

1991 E. Currie Dope & Trouble ii. ii. 109 I took twenty-seven hits... And I started peaking man... I couldn't move right, man, like I could barely stand.

2003 East Bay (Calif.) Express (Nexis) 25 June He was also once hospitalized for a nervous breakdown after being subdued in a Sydney airport while peaking on acid and smack.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

peakv.³

Brit.

/piːk/, U.S.

/pik/

Forms: 1600s pike, 1600s–1700s peek, 1800s– peak.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: English peak , a-peak adv.

Etymology: < peak (in a-peak adv.; compare forms s.v.). Compare French apiquer (1702 in sense 1a; 1687 in sense ‘(of an anchor cable) to take a vertical position’; < à pic : see a-peak adv.).

1. Nautical.

a. transitive. To raise or tilt up (a yard) vertically or towards the vertical, so as to bring it parallel to the mast; (occasionally) to hoist (a sail) in this way. Esp. in to peak the mizzen. Frequently with up. Also intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > tilt yard

topc1550

peak1626

speek1644

tope1669

cockbill1829

trip1840

1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 30 When you ride amongst many ships, pike your yards.

1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 45 To ride apike is to pike your yards when you ride amongst many ships.

1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) i. xvi. 79 Peek [printed Speek] the Mizon, that is, put the Yard right up and down by the Mast.

1729 W. Wriglesworth MS Log-bk. of ‘Lyell’ 18 Nov. At night it blowing hard with Rain, Peeked the Yards, and hauled up a Range of the Sheet Cable.

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Apiquer une vergue, to top a sail-yard, or peek it up.

1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 242 They peek the yard against the mast to shift the sail.

1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship II. 255 To Peek the Mizen, to put the mizen-yard perpendicular by the mast.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. To Peak, to raise a gaff or lateen yard more obliquely to the mast.

1903 Outing Aug. 590/2 Although the wind is strong enough to blow down fish-houses, they peak up the white sail without thinking of a reef.

1959 Washington Post 16 Aug. c8/5 Peak Halyard, a line attached to a bridle in the center of a gaff and used to ‘peak up’ its outer end.

1970 Hudson River Sloops 28/2 It will require two six-part tackles to hoist and peak up the thirty-three foot gaff.

1989 Wooden Boat Dec. 69/2 If I wanted to sneak up on somebody fast, I would peak up and ease the sheet just a little bit.

b. transitive. To raise (the oars of a boat) vertically out of the water.

ΚΠ

1631 in R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 1508 They [sc. a Maltese galley] stopped and piked halfe their oares.

1836 N. Isaacs Trav. E. Afr. II. 347 They immediately hauled down their sail, peaked their oars.

1849 J. F. Cooper Sea Lions I. xi. 156 The men now ‘peaked’ their oars, as it is termed; or they placed the handles in cleets made to receive them, leaving the blades elevated in the air, so as to be quite clear of the water.

1888 W. B. Churchward ‘Blackbirding’ in S. Pacific 227 Sharp, man! Peak your oars, and sit down tight on the bottom.

1986 I. Wedde Symmes Hole (1988) 61 ‘And again!’ screamed Swindle, and then, ‘Peak oars!’—the box-line buzzed through the chocks.

2. transitive. Of a whale: to raise (its tail or flukes) straight up in diving vertically. Also intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [verb (intransitive)] > miscellaneous actions of whale

calvec1000

spout1683

blow1726

peak1839

sound1839

fluke1840

mill1840

breach1843

white-water1856

round1881

1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 44 The flukes are then lifted high into the air, and the animal..descends perpendicularly..this act..is called by whalers ‘peaking the flukes’.

1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 28 How could he go down head-foremost, with peaking his tail in the air?

1885 Longman's Mag. 5 537 A whale had..dived perpendicularly—‘peaked’ in whaling language.

1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 3169/1 A whale raises or peaks its tail when diving.

2003 www.pbs.org 17 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) It slipped beneath the waves without peaking its flukes and disappeared.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹eOE

n.²adj.c1450

n.³1509

n.⁴1543

n.⁵adv.1706

n.⁶1868

n.⁷1953

v.¹c1450

v.²1577

v.³1626

单词	peak
释义	Peakn.¹ Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: Old English Peac, Old English–early Middle English Pec, Old English–early Middle English Pech, early Middle English Peyk, Middle English Peek, Middle English Peeke, Middle English Pek, Middle English 1700s Peck, Middle English–1500s Peeke, Middle English–1500s Peke, 1500s–1700s Peake, 1500s– Peak. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps related to Norwegian regional pjuke pouch-shaped bump, Swedish regional pjuk , pjukk summit, hillock, haycock, probably < the same Germanic base as pock n.¹ In later use frequently apprehended as the same word as peak n.² (compare sense 7a).Old English pēac is attested only as a place-name element (but see note below), chiefly with reference to the Peak District in Derbyshire and Staffordshire; the original sense of the word is assumed to have been ‘knoll, hill, summit’. Although it is sometimes suggested that the name was originally applied to Castle Hill, Castleton, Derbyshire, there is no real evidence for this. Old English Pēcsǣte , lit. ‘settlers of the Peak’ (one isolated attestation in a document whose original dates from the 7th cent.) shows that even in early use the name had come to be applied to the whole district:OE Tribal Hidage in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 414 Pecsætna [land] twelf hund hyda. The same place-name element is apparently also attested in other names elsewhere in England, as Pech (1086; now Peek, Devon), Pechesdone (1086; now Pegsdon, Bedfordshire), Pecfortuna (1096–1101; now Peckforton, Cheshire), Pekesbru (late 12th cent.; now Ganton Peak, East Riding, Yorkshire). The name Peak's Arse (see Peak's arse n. at Compounds 2), applied to the Peak Cavern, has suggested an alternative etymology of Old English Pēac as the name of a demon (compare the later name Devil's Arse ), relating the word to Old English pūca goblin (see puck n.¹), but the place-name evidence cited above (in all of which the word appears to be associated with hills) tells against this. From the 17th cent. the name has naturally been associated with peak n.², but the history of the latter makes any etymological connection impossible. In sense 2 apparently so called from the famous Peak Cavern; compare quot. 1600¹ at Peakish adj.² The name is also attested in documents from the early 12th cent. to the late 14th cent. in the Latinized form Peccus, compare:a1135 in Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (1817) I. 1272 Ea die qua Willelmo Peverell dominium meum de Pecco dedi.a1200 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 1 Altus Peccus.1223 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 159 Foresta de Pecco [v.r. Pecko]. For possible evidence of Old English pēac in general sense ‘knoll, hill, summit’ compare the following late copy of a charter of 940 in which the unknown word weac is perhaps a scribal error for peac (resulting from the common confusion of the letters wynn (for /w/) and p):lOE Bounds (Sawyer 463) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 485 Þonam east to lytlan weac suþæweardan þæt þonan east ofær Meone to mæarh þorne þonan east to mearc hangran suþæ weardan utt þurh weac to trind lea. A. Mawer ( Probl. Place-name Study (1929) 71) has identified the locality referred to as probably Peake Farms on a prominent spur overlooking the Meon valley in Hampshire. 1. Now only with the. = Peak District n. at Compounds 2.The northern part is known as the High Peak or Dark Peak, the southern part as the Low Peak or White Peak. The whole district was made a national park in 1951.Recorded earliest in Peakland n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > [noun] > of a country > specific PeakeOE PeaklandeOE highland1503 Peak country?1523 piedmont1755 high country1874 altiplano1910 eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 920 Eadweard cyning..for þa þonan on Peaclond to Badecanwiellon. lOE Henry of Huntingdon Historia Anglorum (1996) i. vii. 22 Quatuor autem sunt que mira uidentur in Anglia. Primum quidem est quod uentus egreditur a cauernis terre in monte qui uocatur Pec, tanto uigore ut uestes iniectas repellat et in altum eleuatas procul eiciat. 1174 in Publ. Pipe Roll Soc. (1896) XXI. 61 In Operationibus Castellorum de Pech & de Bolesoura. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 164 Þat oþer wonder is, Vpe þe hul of þe pek þe wind þere iwis Vp of þe erþe ofte comþ of holes. 1383 in K. Cameron Place-names Derbyshire (1959) I. 159 (MED) Foreste del Peek. ?1515 A. Barclay Egloges (1928) i. 5 Yet was he to sight a stoute and lustie freake, And as he bosted he borne was in the peake. 1560 T. Becon Jewel of Joy in Wks. ii. 6 I trauayled into Darbyshere and from thence into the Peke. 1622 M. Drayton 2nd Pt. Poly-olbion xxvi. 125 Yet for her Caues, and Holes, Peake onely not excells, But that I can againe produce those wondrous Wells Of Buckston. 1631 B. Jonson New Inne v. v. l. 110 I am he Haue measur'd all the Shires of England ouer: Wales, and her mountaines, seene those wilder nations, Of people in the Peake, and Lancashire. 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 83 The great Butcher-bird called in the Peak of Derbyshire Wirrangle. 1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Sivb In the High and Low Peaks, where ventureing Miners get but small Quantitys of Booss. 1757 C. Powys Passages from Diaries Mrs. Powys (1899) 29 I must own this magnificent..place may justly be stiled one of the wonders of the Peake. 1802 C. Lamb Let. 24 Sept. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1976) II. 68 To visit the far famed Peak in Derbyshire, where the Devil sits, they say, without breeches. 1874 Murray's Hand-bk. Derby (ed. 2) 53/2 The great block of mountain called in the Ordnance Map ‘the Peak’ is really an extensive plateau comprising the several summits of Kinderscout, the Edge, Fairbrook Naze, etc. 1891 J. Leyland Peak of Derbyshire i. 1 The ‘Peak of Derbyshire’ is a term which, to many, does not carry with it a very definite signification, for although most of the favourite resorts of tourists are known to lie within Peakland, few have inquired as to the boundaries of that district. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xi. 182 The country rolled away in long undulations, south towards the Peak, east towards Mansfield and Nottingham. 1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages Eng. x. 346 Derbyshire... There seems to have been surprisingly little retreat of settlement from marginal lands in the Peak. 1993 Daily Tel. 10 Dec. 10/7 The red grouse, golden plover, and dunlin are thriving and the mountain, or blue hare (Lepus timidus), introduced in the High Peak in the 19th century, is breeding again. †2. A cave. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > cave covec950 denOE cavec1220 rochea1300 spelunk13.. cavernc1374 cabin1377 speke1377 antruma1398 minea1398 thurse-house?c1450 crypt?a1475 vault1535 chamber1575 antre1585 underground1594 Peak1600 lustre?1615 open?1644 cunicle1657 subterranean1714 subterrane1759 loch1767 purgatory1797 vug1818 1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. x. i. 351 Into this cave or peake [L. spelunca] the Romanes entred with their ensignes displaied. Compounds C1. General attributive. Peak burr n. (burr n.⁵). ΚΠ 1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Dec. 891/1 We are given..a notice of the mill's character..down to the quality of millstones—Peak or French burr. Peak hill n. ΚΠ 1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 45 I never saw any of them but on the barren peak Hills. 1902 Times 27 Jan. 10/5 Snow has fallen to the depth of 6in. on the Peak hills of Derbyshire. † Peak lead n. Obsolete ΚΠ 1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 265 The Lead Mines in Ireland doe containe more siluer than these Mines of Darbieshire and Somersetshire called Peake and Mendippe Leade. Peak scenery n. ΚΠ 1818 E. Rhodes (title) Peak scenery. 1994 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 10 July (Review Suppl.) 58 This former railway line, running through some of the best of the Peak scenery, is ideal for walking or easy cycling. Peak stone n. ΚΠ 1709 London Gaz. No. 4540/7 To be Lett some very good Mills at Kidlington,..one pair of Peck Stones, one pair of French Stones. 2001 Observer 29 Apr. (Life Suppl.) 48/2 Most British mills use Derbyshire peak stone, but there is only one type of burrstone that grinds flour perfectly. C2. Peak castle n. the castle at Castleton in the Peak District. ΚΠ 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 425/2 The Peak castle is now an ‘ill-shapen ruin’, situated on the verge of the rocky precipice that forms the roof of the Peak cavern at Castleton. 1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 72/2 Another great Domesday landholder was William Peverel, the historic founder of Peak Castle. Peak country n. = Peak District n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > [noun] > of a country > specific PeakeOE PeaklandeOE highland1503 Peak country?1523 piedmont1755 high country1874 altiplano1910 ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxi The poore man of the peeke country and such other places where they vse to mylke theyr ewes. 1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 195 We have a Hole call'd Elden-hole, not made by art, but naturally in the mountain, in the Peak-country of Darbyshire, above 80 fathoms deep. 1959 Dict. National Biogr. 1941–50 at Legh, Thomas Wodehouse Lyme, their seat in the Peak country, is one of England's great country houses. Peak District n. a hilly district in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, situated at the southern end of the Pennines. ΚΠ 1839 Times 2 Dec. 2/6 The harvest in North Derbyshire..is not yet completed. There are many crops of oats still remaining to be carried, especially in the peak district. 1869 Notes & Queries 16 Oct. 315/1 Being at Castleton, in the Peak district, a few days ago, I observed something remarkable stuck on the top of the church tower. 1956 Nature 11 Feb. 246/2 The establishment of a motor-racing circuit on public roads in the Peak District National Park. † Peak grinding n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) grain ground with millstones from the Peak District. ΚΠ 1659 J. Howell Particular Vocab. §l, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) Cullen meal the purest, peak or French grinding. † Peak's arse n. Obsolete the Peak Cavern near Castleton in the Peak District. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > cave > specific St Patrick's Purgatoryc1300 Peak's arse1681 OE Domesday Bk. (1783) I. f. 276/2 [Phillimore: Derbyshire 7. 7] In Pechesers. Terram castelli Willelmi Peurel tenuerunt Gernebern & Hundinc. 1681 C. Cotton Wonders of Peake 47 Under this Castle yawns a dreadful Cave. [Note] Peake's-Arse, the sixth Wonder. † Peak-wheat n. Obsolete rare a poor variety of wheat. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant spelta1000 farc1420 ador?1440 flaxen wheat?1523 Peak-wheat?1523 red wheat?1523 white wheat?1523 duck-bill wheat1553 zea1562 alica1565 buck1577 amelcorn1578 horse-flower1578 tiphe1578 pollard1580 rivet1580 Saracen's corn1585 French wheat1593 Lammas-wheat1594 starch corn1597 St. Peter's corn1597 frumenty1600 secourgeon1600 polwheat1601 duck-wheat1611 kidneys of wheat1611 ograve wheat1616 soft wheat1640 cone-wheat1677 Lammas1677 Poland wheat1686 Saracen corn1687 pole rivet1707 Smyrna wheat1735 hard wheat1757 hen corn1765 velvet wheat1771 white straw1771 nonpareil1805 thick-set wheat1808 cone1826 farro1828 Polish wheat1832 velvet-ear wheat1837 sarrasin1840 mummy wheat1842 snowdrop1844 Red Fife1857 flint-wheat1859 dinkel1866 thick-set1875 spring1884 macaroni wheat1901 einkorn1904 marquis1906 durum1908 emmer1908 hedgehog wheat1909 speltoid1939 ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viii^v Beyr barley..hath an eyre thre inches of length or more set foure square lyke peeke whete smale cornes & lytell floure, and that is the worst barley. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xix Englysshe whete hath a dunne yere fywe anis or none, & is the worst whete saue peeke whete. Peeke whete hath a red eyre full of anis thynne set & of tymes it is flyntered. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). peakn.²adj. Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: late Middle English–1500s peke, 1500s pek, 1500s–1600s peake, 1500s– peak, 1600s peeke, 1600s–1700s (1800s– English regional (south-western)) peek, 1700s– pique (now rare and archaic); also Scottish pre-1700 peick, pre-1700 1800s peik, 1900s– pake (rare), 1900s– peek (rare). See also peck n.² Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.¹ Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.¹ (compare γ forms and discussion at pick v.¹). Compare Middle Dutch pēke pike, pickaxe, pointed implement, Middle Low German pēk , peek , peik pointed implement, pointed tip of an implement (German regional (Low German) Peek )). Compare earlier peaked adj.¹ Compare peck n.²Branch A. and pike n.¹ appear to have moved apart in sense in early modern English, pike being confined more to a sharp piercing or pricking point (perhaps influenced by pike n.⁵, the weapon, introduced to Britain in the late 15th cent.), while peak became more associated with the notion of a projecting point, not specially sharp or pointed. The extension of peak to denote a pointed mountain top or conical mountain (see branch A. III.) began in the 17th cent., apparently after pike n.³ or its Romance etymons; there is probably no connection with pike n.², still in use for the names of some mountain summits in the north-west of England (and adjacent parts of Scotland). With the sense ‘beak, bill’ (see sense A. 1) compare beak n.¹ Irish péac point, peak, is probably < Middle English. A. n.² I. A projecting point, and related uses. 1. A projecting point; a pointed or tapering extremity; †a beak, a bill (obsolete). Now rare or merged in sense A. 8a.See also green-peak n. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > [noun] > horn- or beak-like part peakc1450 horn1776 rostrum1818 beak1820 the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > [noun] > a point pointc1300 neb?a1425 peakc1450 peck1481 cag1604 sharp1633 acuminate1640 cuspis1646 cusp1647 acumination1651 nib1713 spit-point1796 the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [noun] > snout > beak billa1000 peakc1450 rostrum1677 beak1822 c1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Digby) f. 215 A kalketrappe...hath foure tyndes or pykes ischarped kene; & how euer þis irun be icaast, þre pekes [a1450 Douce pikes; L. radiis] stonde on þe grounde, & þe fourþe pik stant [vpryȝt]. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xxxii. 45 The floures are smal, of a pleasant light redde: after these floures followeth certayne small narrow peakes or beakes as in the others. 1587 T. Thomas Dict. Latinae & Anglicanae Vngula,..a tormenting iron toole with two peakes or hornes wherwith the sides of the offanders were cut and slit. 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xlvii. 521 There breed in trees certaine small beastes almost like to weeuils,..certaine of them haue long and sharpe pointed peakes or bils, these doe great harme to grafts and other yong trees. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Trombe, a round and hollow ball of wood, hauing a peake like a casting-top, and making a great noise when it is cast as a top. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Peak, the sharp Point of any thing. 1793 J. Bell Anat. Bones, Muscles, & Joints ii. ii. 216 It [sc. the epiglottis] is suspended by little peaks of the membrane, which we call ligaments of the glottis. 1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 183 The moon put forth a little diamond peak, No bigger than an unobserved star. 1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. i. 21 These are the two ears of the Faun, which are leaf-shaped, terminating in little peaks, like those of some species of animals. 1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xli. 29 The plantation wherein she had taken shelter ran down at this spot into a peak. 1907 N.E.D. at Pique v.³ To taper to a peak. 1999 Miami Times (Nexis) 14 Oct. The piquillos, small red peppers that taper to a peak (thus their name). 2. spec. a. Originally: the projecting front of a headdress, esp. of a widow's hood. Later more generally: any more or less pointed projecting part of a garment or costume. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > other netOE sheepskinc1175 tail1297 panec1300 slipc1440 cukera1500 peak1509 waist1590 bumbarrel1609 winglet1611 armhole1731 fullness1792 stride1807 bottom1820 patte1835 buckling1861 ventilator1870 tie-back1880 shield1884 organ pleat1886 outer1904 flarea1910 uplift1929 the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > projecting front peak1509 pokec1614 poke-brim1879 1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. xix^v And ye Jentyl wymen whome this lewde vice doth blynde Lased on the backe: your peakes set a loft. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 253/1 Peake of a ladyes mourning heed, biquoquet. 1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. L4 A close-bellied dublet comming downe with a peake behinde as farre as the crupper. 1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 170 The colours of their coates weare raised with a peake behind to keepe the necke warme. 1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iv. vi. 114 Frontlets were worn betwixt their eies..hanging down on a peak from their foreheads. 1696 London Gaz. No. 3234/4 A Childs Peak with a Scarlet Riband,..a red Riband Stomacher. 1706 J. Addison Rosamond iii. iv Widow Trusty, why so Fine? Why dost thou thus in Colours shine? Thou should'st thy husband's death bewail In Sable vesture, Peak and Veil. 1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth II. 11 The Buxom Widdow with Bandore and Peak. 1795 A. Anderson Narr. Brit. Embassy China 108 The women of Pekin..wear a sharp peak of black velvet or silk, which..descends from the forehead almost between their eyes. 1825 R. Chambers Traditions II. 59 The peak was a deep sharp angle in the close part of the gown behind, pointing downwards. 1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxviii. 301 The collar was cut into curious peaks, which served the goblin in lieu of ruff or neckerchief. 1854 S. Sidney in Househ. Words 28 Oct. 249/2 Collars of gigantic breadth, with piques, gave the effect of a hump to all but crane-necked men. 1859 A. H. Clough tr. Plutarch Lives V. 208 Alexander was brought out before the people in the Median costume, the tiara and upright peak. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. i. [Telemachus] 17 He pulled down neatly the peaks of his primrose waistcoat. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions iii. xv. 240 She..wore the peak of her sari drawn so far forward that its broad edging of embroidery shadowed what little he could see of her face. 1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 2 Oct. To avoid crease marks near the peaks of shirt collars iron from each peak towards the centre back of each collar. b. The pointed tip of a beard. In early use also: †a pointed beard (obsolete). Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of beard goat's beard1440 bodkin-bearda1529 pique-devant1587 crates1592 peak1592 spade-peak1592 beard1598 Cads-beard1598 spade-beard1598 punto beard1633 cathedral beard1635 stiletto1638 T bearda1640 trencher-bearda1668 tile beard1816 imperial beard1832 Charley1833 imperial1835 royale1838 goatee1841 goat1849 Newgate frill1851 Newgate fringe1853 Vandyke beard1894 torpedo beard1899 Vandyke1909 pencil beard1966 1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. D4 He [sc. the barber] discends as low as his bearde, and asketh..whether hee will haue his peak cut short & sharpe. 1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. E4 A iolly long red peake like the spire of a steeple hee cherisht continually without cutting. 1619 H. Hutton Follie's Anat. sig. A8 Hauing his beard precisely cut ith' peake. a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Double Marriage iii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ddddd4/2 How he has..run your beard into a peak of twenty! 1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 390 His Beard is Cut neatly, and the Whiskers..in fashion of an Half-Moon on the upper Lip, with only a decent Peak on the under. 1852 F. M. Lewin Diary 28 Nov. in Lewin Lett. (1909) II. v. 98 At dinner I met Count Stackelburg,..a good example of a Swedish nobleman, fair and stout, wearing his beard in a peak. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. vi. [Hades] 87 Martin Cunningham twirled more quickly the peak of his beard. 1997 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 21 Feb. I had grown a technicolor beard, red and curly, with two peaks, separated by a brown central streak. c. The stiff projecting part at the front of a cap. Now chiefly British.In U.S. use the more commonly used terms are bill and visor. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > projecting front > (peak) of cap peak1660 shade1818 visor1864 skip1888 bill1935 1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 136 A Cap of Crimson Tissu, with a Chapplet of gold, that hath a peake before [Fr. vne pointe au deuant], not unlike the Flower-Deluces. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. vi. 193 Having on a jockey-cap, one side of the peak was shaved off..by a ball. 1813 J. Austen Let. 16 Sept. (1995) 222 My Cap has a peak in front. Large, full Bows of very narrow ribbon (old twopenny) are the thing. 1866 Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 356 A cap is best for the head, and it is not a bad plan to line the peak inside with green. 1873 W. Black Princess of Thule i. 1 The rain that fell off the peak of his sailor's cap. 1935 W. Faulkner Pylon 132 He looked up and back, his eyebrows rising and vanishing beyond the cap's peak. 1976 Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 21/6 (advt.) Riding macs, riding caps with new collapsible peaks, hunting bowlers. Bargain price. 1992 C. Wilkins Wolf's Eye 208 ‘If you're gonna be a Thunder Bay boy, you gotta have a cap.’.. Billy..swinging the hat by its peak, hooked it onto his head. d. A projecting part of a saddle; a pommel. In quot. 1775: a saddle with a high pommel (cf. demi-pique n.). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > parts of saddle saddle-boweOE arsonc1300 saddle skirt1361 saddle-tree1364 skirtc1400 saddle panel1465 stock-tree1470 stock1497 pommela1500 tree1535 pillion cloth1540 port1548 saddle stock1548 pilch1552 bolster1591 cantle1591 shank-pilliona1599 pillowc1600 pad1604 crutch1607 sivet1607 saddle crutcha1614 saddle eaves1663 saddle tore1681 burr1688 head1688 narve1688 saddle seat1688 sidebar1688 torea1694 quarter1735 bands of a saddle1753 witherband1764 withers1764 peak1775 pillion-stick1784 boot-housing1792 saddle flap1798 saddle lap1803 fork1833 flap1849 horn1849 skirting1852 hunting-horn1854 head-plate1855 saddle horn1856 cantle bar1859 leaping-horn1859 straining1871 stirrup-bar1875 straining-leather1875 spring tree1877 leaping-head1881 officer-tree1894 monkey1911 monkey-strap1915 thigh roll1963 straining-web- 1775 J. Schaw Jrnl. Lady of Quality (1921) 231 He got a saddle indeed, but not a common one, for it was an old French pique, that had not felt the air for fifty years. 1845 R. Browning How they brought Good News in Bells & Pomegranates No. VII: Dramatic Romances & Lyrics ii. 3 I turned in my saddle and made its girths tight, Then shortened each stirrup, and set the pique right. a1860 Sir H. Smith Autobiogr. (1901) I. xviii. 177 John Bell had on this horse a very large and high-peaked Hussar saddle, with his cloak strapped on the pique before. 1895 G. A. Henty Heart of Rockies iii. 49 A saddle of Mexican pattern, with high peak and cantle, massive wooden framework, huge straps and heavy stirrups. 1904 R. Hichens Garden of Allah ii. ix. 144 She saw Androvsky raise his arms from the saddle peak, catch at the flying rein, draw it up, lean against the saddle back and pull with all his force. 1998 P. Starkey Improving Donkey Utilisation & Management 31 Usually 90° is sufficient to ensure that the peak of the saddle remains off the spine. e. A protruding point or angle in the hairline of a person's forehead. See also widow's peak n. at widow n. Compounds 5. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > hairline > [noun] > types of widow's peak1681 peak1795 1795 Mrs. Courtney Isabinda of Bellefield I. liv. 224 Her forehead, rather low than high, on which her hair descends in a little peak, which looks exceedingly pretty. 1833 A. E. Bray Let. in Descr. Part Devonshire (1836) III. xxxviii. 193 Wishing that he should have..a pair of fine peaks, as they were called, one being on either side the forehead, she caused the hair to be regularly shaved off. 1851 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. July 55 He had a high, round forehead, running up into two sharp peaks over his temples. 1938 A. Morris Step-by-step Method Water Waving 39 (caption) Hair line showing peak and receding part over eyes. 1995 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel (Nexis) 26 Mar. 3 The high-collared silk cape, the slicked-back hair with a mid-forehead peak, the elongated fangs. †3. A promontory; a headland. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > promontory, headland, or cape > [noun] starteOE nessOE snookc1236 head1315 bill1382 foreland?a1400 capec1405 nook?a1425 mull1429 headland?c1475 point?c1475 nese1497 peak1548 promontory1548 arma1552 reach1562 butt1598 promontorea1600 horn1601 naze1605 promonta1607 bay1611 abutment1613 promontorium1621 noup1701 lingula1753 scaw1821 tang1822 odd1869 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Acts xiii. 46 Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia, whiche is a great promontorye, or peake on the weste parte of Antioche. 4. Lace, esp. with a scalloped edge. (In quot. 1591: a lace ruff). Cf. picot n. Now Scottish. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > ruffle or frill ruff?1523 chitterling1576 hand-ruff1581 peak1591 frislet1607 fall1634 ruffle1659 furbelow1706 flounce1726 Valenciennes1764 ruche1806 ruching1847 volant1851 flouncing1865 balayeuse1882 cascade1882 goffering1889 tier1934 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace lace1530 peak1591 tevell1632 lacework1677 dentelle1847 machine lace1851 1591 T. Lodge Catharos in Compl. Wks. (1883–8) 57 Our picked yongsters hauing their peakes starched for feare of stirring. 1667 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue (rev. ed.) I. i. iv. 52 Peake, any Lace. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Peak, any kind of Lace. 1881 A. Trumble Slang Dict. 26/1 Peak, lace goods. 1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 230 Peak, a kind of lace. 1985 Conc. Sc. Dict. Peak, a type of lace with a pointed, scalloped edge. 5. Nautical. a. The upper end of a gaff (gaff n.¹ 2); the upper aftermost corner of a sail extended by a gaff. Also with distinguishing word, as gaff peak, mizzen peak. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > upper corner peak1692 nock1794 throat1808 1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 456 Hanging white flags..on the mizen peak. 1750 Minutes Proc. Trial Rear-Admiral Knowles 22 I remember a Genoeze Frag being hoisted..on board the Cornwall, at the mizin Peek. 1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 27 The reef enwrapp'd, th' inserted nittles ty'd, The hallyards, thrott and peek, are next apply'd. 1806 A. Duncan Life Nelson 75 Nelson directed his fleet to hoist four lights..at the mizen peak. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast ix. 69 There was only one vessel in the port—a long, sharp brig..with..English colors at her peak. 1894 Times 16 June 12/2 Healy had to gybe, but, though warned to lower his peak, he performed the operation with unshortened sail. 1901 W. C. Russell Ship's Adventure vii There's the barque that fouled us last night, sir. She's got a wift at her mizzen-peak. 1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms Peak span, a piece of wire or rope leading from the lower masthead to the peak of a standing gaff to support it in position. 1962 A. G. Course Dict. Nautical Terms (at cited word) Signal halliards rove through a block at the peak were known as peak halliards. 1990 Small Boat Jrnl. Jan. 48/3 The sail is pivoted around the axis from the tack downhaul up to the peak. b. The narrow part of a ship's hold at the bow or (less commonly) stern.Earliest in forepeak n. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > bottom or part under water > [noun] > hold > parts of hold forepeak1693 peak1693 wing1730 forehold1790 1693 R. Lyde True Acct. Retaking of Ship 17 A Scuttle..that went down into the Forepeak. 1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) There is also a Room in the Hold of a Ship, that is called the Peek: 'Tis from the Bitts forward to the Stem. Here Men of War usually keep their Powder; and Merchant-men, Outward-bound, place their Victuals here. 1895 E. R. Suffling Land of Broads 25 Forward in the peak is a small American cooking-stove. 1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms Peak tank, a tank situated in the fore or after peak. 2002 Africa News (Nexis) 16 Nov. The goods were loaded in the forward peak, a front compartment in a ship that is not supposed to be loaded with goods. c. The point at the end of a fluke of an anchor; = bill n.² 4, pea n.⁴ ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > anchoring equipment > [noun] > anchor > fluke > point of bill1769 peak1793 peac1860 anchor point1877 1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §143 The anchor..became suspended by the bowsprit, with the Peak upwards. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak of an anchor, the bill or extremity of the palm, which, as seamen by custom drop the k, is pronounced pea; it is tapered nearly to a point in order to penetrate the bottom. 1982 P. Clissold Layton's Dict. Naut. Words (new ed.) Pea, bill, or peak, of anchor. II. A pointed implement. 6. †a. A pickaxe. Cf. peck n.² 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > digging or lifting tools > [noun] > pick mattockeOE pickaxe1256 billc1325 pikec1330 pickc1350 peak1454 picker1481 peck1485 beele1671 pix1708 tramp-pick1813 jackass pick1874 mad mick1919 1454 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1855) II. 173 (MED) An axe, a kychen knyfe..a peke, a grett arke lydles, a pikeforke. c1500 Makculloch MS in G. S. Stevenson Pieces from Makculloch & Gray MSS (1918) xiii. 53 Hec marra, a peik. 1514 Lett. & Papers Henry VIII (P.R.O.) I. 572/1 xxii pekes for to hewe gounys stonys. 1684 in A. H. Millar Bk. of Record (1890) 34 The utter court beat doune by the force of quarry mells and peiks to render it accessable. b. Scottish (eastern). A long pointed piece of lead, used for ruling paper. Also: a slate pencil. rare. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > for marking lines parallel to edge gauge1678 swage1688 peak1825 marking gauge1875 society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > slate pencil slate pencil1761 skaillie1808 peak1825 1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Peik, Lead-peik, a long piece of lead, used for ruling paper, Aberd. 1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 208 Slate pencil, [Kincardine] pake, peek. c. English regional (south-western). A pitchfork, a hay-fork. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > fork > pitch-fork pikeforkc1275 shakefork1338 pickfork1349 pitchfork1364 pikea1398 bicornec1420 hay-fork1552 shed-fork1559 straw-fork1573 pikel1602 sheppeck1602 corn-pike1611 wain-forka1642 pick1777 pickle1847 peak1892 1892 S. Hewett Peasant Speech Devon 123 Aw yü gert slamicking theng! Yer clothes lükes s'off twuz drawed on wi' a peek! 1967 H. Orton & M. F. Wakelin Surv. Eng. Dial. IV. i. 135 Q[uestion]. What do you call a fork with two prongs?.. [Somerset] Peek. III. A mountain, a prominence; a highest or maximum point. 7. a. The pointed top or summit of a mountain; a mountain or hill having a more or less pointed summit, or being conical in form. Cf. pico n.In quot. 1613 the form peeke is perhaps an error for peeked; cf. quot. 1613 at peaked adj.¹ b. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill or mountain > [noun] > summit > pointed pike1243 pico1596 peak1613 pic1658 obelisk1705 horn1820 1613 J. Saris Jrnl. in Voy. Japan (1900) 11 When the peeke hill beares N. by W. then you are twhart. 1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 112 The top of the high Peake of Damoan..like a Sugar-loafe. 1637 W. Lisle tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Four Bks. 4 Some full brauely climme The craggie peakes of hills, t'escape the raging deepes. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 181 We were some three Leagues off of Sannas,..it makes a Peak, but the Hill is higher than the Peak [Fr. il fait un pico, mais la montagne est plus haute que le pico]. a1721 M. Prior Cloe Hunting in Poems on Several Occasions (1905) 59 On Meander's bank, or Latmus' peak. 1759 tr. M. Adanson Voy. Senegal 8 The Peak of Tenerif [Fr. le Pic de Ténérif]..appeared to us in the form of a pyramid, or more properly, of a sugar~loaf. 1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1984) 151 The lead is transported 130 miles along a good road, leading through the peaks of Otter to Lynch's ferry, or Winston's. 1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 61 I'd rather stand upon this misty peak, With not a thing to sigh for, or to seek. 1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine i. ii. 76 The next day we ascended the highest peak..of the Sinai range. 1882 Jrnl. Amer. Geogr. Soc. N.Y. 14 276 Westward from its crest a few rocky peaks only are visible. 1943 R. Peattie Great Smokies & Blue Ridge 157 The red spruce..crowns only our highest peaks. 1962 S. Wynter Hills of Hebron ii. 26 The sun lipped with fire the peaks that fenced in Hebron. 2000 N. Kanellos Noche Buena 25 The last rays of the setting sun turned the highest snow-capped peaks into gold and rose. b. figurative. A highest point, summit, or zenith of achievement, success, development, etc.; a climax, an acme. In later use: esp. a point (in time) at which a varying quantity (as traffic flow, prices, electric power, etc.) has reached a maximum; the measure of such a quantity at this point; the representation of such a point on a graph, etc. (cf. spike n.² 2j(b)). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top headOE copa1000 heightOE topc1000 highestlOE crest1382 coperounc1400 summita1425 summity?a1425 toppet1439 altitude?a1475 upperest1484 principala1533 pitcha1552 supremity1584 culm1587 period1595 spire1600 upward1608 cope1609 fastigium1641 vertex1641 culmen1646 supreme1652 tip-top1702 peak1785 helm1893 altaltissimo1975 the world > space > relative position > high position > [noun] > highest point or top > pointed pin?a1475 apex1590 punctilio1601 cone1611 cuspis1646 cusp1647 peak1785 the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > part of peak1785 flatline1867 tail1895 upper bound1917 valley1935 trough1938 skirt1940 shoulder1956 spike1961 the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > state of or advanced condition > highest point prickOE heighta1050 full1340 higha1398 pointc1400 roofa1500 top-castle1548 ruff1549 acmea1568 tip1567 noontide1578 high tide1579 superlative1583 summity1588 spring tide1593 meridian1594 period1595 apogee1600 punctilio1601 high-water mark1602 noon1609 zenith1610 auge1611 apex1624 culmination1633 cumble1640 culmen1646 climax1647 topc1650 cumulus1659 summit1661 perigeum1670 highest1688 consummation1698 stretch1741 high point1787 perihelion1804 summary1831 comble1832 heading up1857 climacteric1870 flashpoint1878 tip-end1885 peak1902 noontime1903 Omega point1981 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [noun] > quality or fact of being extreme > highest, utmost, or extreme degree heightOE perfectiona1398 utterestc1410 uttermosta1425 tiptoec1440 pinnaclec1450 utmost1472 outmostc1535 extremity1543 abyss1548 top1552 furthest, utmost stretch1558 summa summarum1567 superlative1573 strain1576 extreme1595 fine1596 last1602 yondmost1608 super-superlative1623 pitch1624 utmostness1674 pink1720 supreme1817 ultima Thule1828 peak1902 1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 157 Some..travel Nature up To the sharp peak of her sublimest height, And tell us whence the stars. 1820 P. B. Shelley Hymn to Apollo v I stand at noon upon the peak of Heaven. 1865 Proc. Royal Soc. 14 33 When the ends of the ordinates are united, the curve beyond the red rises in a steep and massive peak, which quite dwarfs the luminous portion of the spectrum. 1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 233 Every summit in Evolution is the base of some grander peak. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 35/1 Accumulators will take the peaks of the load, relieving the machinery from sudden jerks. 1918 Times 22 Jan. 18/2 Pig-iron production, at its peak in October, had by February decreased about 16 per cent. 1923 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 6/4 During the morning, evening and theatre peaks, two escalators in each group can be run in either an upward or downward direction. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 212/1 The corresponding histogram of conjugated bilirubin is markedly bimodal, and also shows an artificial peak at 0·5 mg. (100 ml.). 1971 Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 68/2 It is a basic hi-fi requirement that peaks should be accommodated without serious distortion. 2002 Sport Fishing June 102/2 The peak of the king salmon spawning migration occurs in mid-June. 8. Extended and technical uses. a. The pointed top of something.Often with some association of senses A. 1 or A. 7. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > [noun] > pointed object or part > at the top pinnaclec1400 taper1589 peak1785 1785 E. Forbes in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 254 It [sc. lightning] entered at the west end [of the barn], just below the peak,—passed on the under side of the ridge-pole to a king-post. 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge iv. 253 It was..a shy, blinking house, with a conical roof going up into a peak over its garret window of four small panes of glass. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud vi. i, in Maud & Other Poems 24 The budded peaks of the wood are bow'd, Caught and cuff'd by the gale. 1913 J. Muir Story of my Boyhood vii. 257 It was to be placed on the peak of the barn roof. 1959 Times 5 Jan. 11/4 In a large clean bowl whisk whites of eggs till they stand up in peaks. 1996 J. C. Oates We were Mulvaneys 19 There was the rooster weathervane on the peak of the hay barn. b. The occiput of a dog when prominent, as in setters and certain other breeds. ΚΠ 1878 C. Hallock Hallock's Amer. Club List & Sportsman's Gloss. p. viii Peak, the high, sharp ridge-bone of a setter's head. 1952 C. L. B. Hubbard Pembrokeshire Corgi Handbk. 113 Peak, the term applied to the occiput when it is prominent, but rightly restricted to use with Bloodhounds, Basset Hounds and Setters. 2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 41 The occiput, occasionally called the occipital crest, peak or apex. c. Phonetics. The most prominent sound in a syllable with regard to sonority (usually a vowel). Cf. nucleus n. 12a. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [noun] > accent > stress accent > stress group > syllables with respect to subtonic1827 pretone1884 pretonic1892 head1922 nucleus1922 tail1922 peak1935 post-nuclear1944 precontour1945 nuclear1949 tonic1962 1935 J. S. Kenyon Amer. Pronunc. (ed. 6) 69 The phonetic center, or ‘peak’ of a syllable is its point of greatest sonority. 1942 B. Bloch & G. L. Trager Outl. Ling. Anal. 22 The sounds which constitute the peaks of sonority are called syllabic. 1960 E. Sivertsen Cockney Phonol. ii. 23 Stressed simple syllable peaks do not occur before juncture, and there are other limitations in the distribution of unstressed peaks in this position. 1989 in B. Boguraev & T. Briscoe Computational Lexicogr. (new ed.) ii. 57 This is achieved using a parser for the pronunciation fields, which breaks them into syllables and, within a syllable, into onset, peak and coda. d. Surfing. The highest point of a wave. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > [noun] > crest ridgeOE white nose1771 feather1838 crest1864 sea-cap1867 comb1886 soup1962 peak1963 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > types or parts of wave pounder1927 dumper1933 take-off1935 greeny1940 beach break1954 beacher1956 big kahuna1959 greenback1959 close out1962 curl1962 shore break1962 shoulder1962 soup1962 tube1962 wall1962 face1963 peak1963 pipeline1963 set1963 reef break1965 surfable wave1965 point break1966 green room1968 slide1968 barrel1975 left-hander1980 A-frame1992 1963 Surfing Yearbk. 42/2 Peak, the highest point of the wave. 1965 M. Farrelly & C. McGregor This Surfing Life iv. 44/2 On most occasions in this sort of surf you take off straight down the peak. 1968 Surfer Jan. 48/1 The way the peak was breaking didn't offer many rights. 2001 Surfer's Path Dec. 46/1 He paddled out and took a set off the peak, drew a fade bottom turn like Fitzgerald at Sunset, snapped out of the lip, [etc.]. B. adj. 1. Of a varying quantity, etc.: that has reached a peak (sense A. 7b); maximum, greatest; optimal, first-rate.Recorded earliest in peak load n. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > greatest in quantity, amount, or degree > maximum uppermost1579 maxim1686 maximum1825 maximal1882 max1886 peak1903 maxed1978 1903 Electr. World & Engineer 23 May 866/2 It is necessary at times of fall and winter peak loads to operate the steam plants in the three combination sub-station and subsidiary steam plants which the company was operating three years ago. 1930 Daily Express 6 Sept. 10/1 Ordinary shares..reached a peak price of 26s. 10½d. during the ‘boom’. 1959 Ann. Reg. 1958 431 Mr. John Davis..anticipated attendance at the cinemas would have dropped during 1958 to..just over half the peak audiences achieved in the years immediately after the war. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. 133/1 Polyunsaturated fats for peak condition, healthy skin and coat, more efficient metabolism. 1973 S. Fisher Female Orgasm vii. 202 Ideation and fantasy do not..play a large or consistent role during the peak arousal phase. 2001 P. Caldwell Sleep Really Well (2003) v. 125 Most sleepwalking begins between the ages of four and twelve, with a peak incidence at age ten. 2. Relating to or characterized by a peak (sense A. 7b); esp. (of a time, period, etc.) during which a maximum is attained.Used esp. of radio or television audiences, vehicle traffic, or demand for or production of mains electricity. Frequently forming noun phrases used attributively, as peak-hour, peak-time, etc. ΘΚΠ society > travel > [noun] > travelling to and fro > of people or vehicles > time of most intense rush hour1878 peak-hour1903 1903 Electr. World & Engineer 9 May 789/1 The direct-current ends of these rotary converters are often worked in multiple with an old generating station..during the peak-hours. 1919 Engineer 1 Aug. 107/1 ‘Peak-hour’ traffic. 1924 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 3/4 A drop of nearly £40,000,000 in pensions expenditure since the ‘peak’ year of 1920–21 is mentioned. 1946 Vogue (U.S. ed.) 1 Aug. 70/2 The Sunday evening peak-listening series, ‘The Challenge of our Time’, has sponsored Marxists such as Professors Haldane and Bernal. 1960 M. O'Conor et al. Children & Television Programmes iii. 8 Pressures of different kinds and degrees exist to compel the television organizations to seek very large audiences for at least some of the programmes placed within the peak viewing period. 1966 Listener 5 May 643/2 The peak age [for juvenile crime] is during the last year at school. 1989 Endless Vacation Jan.–Feb. 87/2 Jamaica's hotels and resorts have entered their peak winter season having undergone more than the customary touch-ups and refurbishing. 2003 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 12/6 Ministers plan to extend trials of ‘yellow buses’ for school transport to reduce peak-hour car use. Compounds C1. a. peak climber n. ΚΠ 1897 Edinb. Rev. July 56 Let the peak-climber reflect that there are between fifty and sixty heights in the chain. 1991 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) (Nexis) 23 Feb. b4 He was a member of the Sierra Club and a chairman of its peak climbers and backpacking sections. b. peak-bearded adj. ΚΠ 1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor v, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 99 The pinched visage of the peak-bearded, black-capped puritan, or his starched withered spouse. 1905 Daily Chron. 12 Aug. 5/2 At one carriage a little baby-girl was held up by its mother to kiss farewell to a peak-bearded gloire bluejacket. peak-crested adj. ΚΠ 1879 L. Wright Pract. Pigeon Keeper 177 Blondinettes..are..peak-crested and plain-headed. 1984 D. F. Ison Fancy Pigeon Standards (ed. 2) 119 South German Clean Legged Monk... Head: Longish round with a forehead of minimum height, always peak crested. peak-nosed adj. ΚΠ 1789 G. White Let. in Nat. Hist. Selborne 280 The Kamschatdales also train the same sort of sharp-eared peak-nosed dogs to draw their sledges. 1871 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris (1899) I. 260 Just as this little peak-nosed parson does. 1992 S. Levy Artific. Life 217 A peak-nosed, ponytailed hacker working at MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. peak-roofed adj. ΚΠ 1823 T. Carlyle Let. 17 June in Coll. Lett. T. & J. W. Carlyle (1970) II. 382 Its [sc. Dunkeld's] old grey cathedral, and its peak-roofed white houses. 1898 Catholic World Dec. 348 Peak-roofed cottages, built of a composite of stone and sand, gazed stolidly at one another. 2002 Backwoods Home Mag. July 24/3 A yurt..is a circular, peak-roofed dwelling with a wooden lattice wall. C2. peak arch n. Architecture a pointed or Gothic arch. ΚΠ 1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1644/1 Peak-arch, a pointed, or Gothic arch. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 620/2 Peak arch, a pointed arch, such as a Gothic arch. 1972 B. Hannah Geronimo Rex ii. xii. 195 The façade [of the hut] was shingles with a peak arch and a Falstaff beer billboard off its stand. peak-brail n. Nautical (now rare) any of the brails attached to the peak of a sail. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for furling sails wyning1295 brailsa1450 clew-garnet1626 furling-line1626 buntline1627 clew-line1627 slabline1647 peak-brail1711 throat brail1769 buntline-span1882 1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 129 Names of the Standing and Running Rigging. Mizon-Mast. Peek-brails. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 161 Span-blocks are fitted on the gaff or the inner and outer peak-brails. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 162 Smaller vessels are only fitted with one peak-brail. peak cap n. a cap with a peak, a peaked cap. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > peaked peaked cap1840 peak cap1867 duncher1914 1867 Times 5 Nov. 6/1 He had a common peak cap, not turned up with a riband. 1903 Daily Chron. 16 Apr. 5/1 Peak caps are coming into fashion... Every second young man, and every third man of years, was wearing a cap in the pattern of those used for motoring. 1994 P. Grescoe Blood Vessel 186 The skipper was a beefy guy in blue coveralls and an oil-spattered peak cap. peak-capped adj. (a) (of a mountain, etc.) capped with peaks (rare); (b) wearing a peaked cap. ΚΠ 1869 R. F. Burton Explor. Highlands Brazil I. 193 The peak-capped wall of Curral d'El-Rei. 1913 Times 11 Nov. 4/1 The peak-capped veterans were heartily cheered. 1972 Drive Spring 147/1 A peak-capped driver at the helm of a Rolls-Royce Corniche. 2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 iii. 81 We don't even get a gas man any more, we get a peak-capped ponce of a pop star. peak clipping n. (a) Phonetics the practice of cutting short syllable peaks when speaking (see sense A. 8c); (b) limitation of the peaks of an audio signal. ΚΠ 1951 G. A. Miller Lang. & Communication iii. 73 With peak clipping the consonants actually become as strong as the vowel sounds, and a limited amount of peak clipping makes the speech sound crisp and clearly pronounced. 1961 Which? July 156/1 There are two accepted methods for achieving loudness compression. One is called A.V.C. and the other peak clipping. 1993 Which? Aug. 50/3 The cheapest models of body-worn and behind-the-ear aids should have a T-switch and peak clipping as standard. peak downhaul n. Nautical (now rare) a rope attached to the peak of a gaff, by which it may be hauled down. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope for raising or lowering gaff peak halyard1728 throat halyard1769 peak downhaul1825 1825 Times 7 Nov. 3/2 The peak downhaul caught him round the middle, and, before he could clear it, the other part of the downhaul caught the mast-head of a fishing smack. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak downhaul, a rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by. 1908 A. J. Kenealy Boat Sailing (ed. 8) xi The running rigging of a mainsail consists of peak and throat halyards, topping lifts, main sheet and peak downhaul. peak experience n. Psychology a momentary awareness of joy or fulfilment, akin to ecstasy and of a higher and different quality from ordinary experience. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > [noun] > momentary peak experience1959 1959 E. G. Schachtel Metamorphosis viii. 177 His [sc. A. H. Maslow's] ‘peak experience’ is characterized by what I call allocentric perception. 1962 A. H. Maslow Toward Psychol. of Being iii. vi. 69 An attempt to generalize in a single description some of these basic cognitive happenings... These and other moments of highest happiness and fulfilment I shall call the peak-experiences. 1975 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 22 Feb. 20/2 I underwent a religious-like peak experience in which the presence of divinity became almost palpable. 1992 W. Kaminer I'm Dysfunctional, you're Dysfunctional (1993) iii. 58 ‘Peakers’, people who enjoyed more than the usual share of peak experience, were subjective without being selfist. peak factor n. the ratio of the maximum value (or the difference between the maximum and minimum values) of an electromagnetic wave to the r.m.s. value. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > [noun] > maximum value > ratio crest factor1914 peak factor1914 1914 H. Pender Amer. Handbk. Electr. Engineers 1297 Crest-factor or peak-factor is the ratio of the crest or maximum value to the r.m.s. value. 1963 G. E. Williams & B. J. Prigmore Electr. Engin. vii. 185 When deciding whether a particular voltage can be safely applied to an insulator, the r.m.s. value must be multiplied by the peak factor. 1991 Telecommunications & Radio Engin. 46 viii. 98 The interrelation between three characteristics of a signal at the input of a channel—its peak factor, the degree of rectangularity of its spectrum, and its keying rate. peak halyard n. Nautical a rope or tackle for hoisting the peak of a gaff. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > rope for raising or lowering gaff peak halyard1728 throat halyard1769 peak downhaul1825 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Ship [Plate Fig. i. 8] Peak Hallyards. 1836 F. Marryat Mr. Midshipman Easy II. i. 9 Made it fast to the peak halyards and hoisted it up. 1990 Illustr. London News Christmas No. 101/1 The main peak halyard hung broken over the side. The compass was broken. peak limiting n. = peak clipping n. (b). ΚΠ 1959 B.S.I. News Dec. 14 Recommendations regarding automatic gain control or peak limiting have also been excluded. 1991 Electronic Musician Nov. 12/1 A 1U rack-mounted, multi-function signal processor that offers simultaneous peak limiting and compression, gating or expansion. peak nucleus n. Phonetics (now rare) a vowel which forms the nucleus of the peak of a syllable. ΚΠ 1960 E. Sivertsen Cockney Phonol. ii. 13 A simple peak consists of one of the six vowels. A complex peak consists of one of the six vowels as peak nucleus plus one of the peak satellites [sc. /h/, /j/, and /w/]. 1963 Amer. Speech 38 57 Even if one were to agree that /h/ as an onset consonant ‘is a voiceless anticipation of the following peak nucleus’ [etc.]. peak piece n. Nautical (now rare) a piece of canvas used to strengthen the peak of a sail. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > material of sails > piece of canvas strengthening sail > at peak peak piece1794 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 93 Mizens..have a nock-piece and a peek-piece. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships Royal Navy (1886) 44 These sails are lined with a clew piece of whole breadth..; a peak piece, also of whole breadth, from the peak to about four or five feet down the leech..; also [etc.]. peak programme meter n. an instrument for monitoring transient peaks in a signal; abbreviated PPM. ΚΠ 1941 B.B.C. Gloss. Broadcasting Terms 23 Peak programme meter, instrument used (especially for the purpose of facilitating control) to measure the volume of programme peaks, averaged over a period of less than one-hundredth of a second. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio v. 94 There are several types of meter that can be used to line up equipment or check for overmodulation; but a ‘peak programme meter’ (PPM) seems to be the most satisfactory instrument. 1995 Electronic Media (Nexis) 26 June 14 He also advised getting a VU (volume unit) meter and a Peak Program Meter to measure audio. peak purchase n. Nautical a purchase (purchase n. 16) attached to the peak halyards of a gaff. ΚΠ 1862 ‘Vanderdecken’ Yacht Sailor ii. 19 Finish up the setting by the peak purchase. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Peak purchase, a purchase fitted in cutters to the standing peak-halliards to sway it up taut. 2003 www.oytnw.org.uk 12 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) Go up on the peak purchase until diagonal crease appears from tack to peak. Make off. peak satellite n. Phonetics (now rare) a semivowel associated with a peak nucleus (see quot. 1960). ΚΠ 1960 E. Sivertsen Cockney Phonol. ii. 13 A simple peak consists of one of the six vowels. A complex peak consists of one of the six vowels as peak nucleus plus one of the peak satellites [sc. /h/, /j/, and /w/]. peak shaving n. the use of stored electricity or gas (esp. produced when demand is low) to boost the supply at peak periods and reduce the output level required at those times; also as adj. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > gas or types of gas > [noun] > storage of gas peak shaving1951 1951 Wright County (Clarion, Iowa) Monitor 11 Jan. 3/7 The Company will install a peak shaving gas plant to supply the additional needs of all bonafide applicants..which require not over 1000 cubic feet of gas per hour per customer. 1954 Statesville (N. Carolina) Daily Record 23 Mar. 5/7 (advt.) The high-cost manufactured gas facilities will be on standby for peak-shaving purposes. 2003 Triangle Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 20 June 23 The new building will have its own electrical generators, which will help decrease the electrical load to the building through ‘peak shaving’. peak tie n. Nautical a tie used to hoist the peak of a heavy gaff. ΚΠ 1883 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) III. 393/3 Peak tye, a tye used in some ships for hoisting the peak of a heavy gaff. 2003 www2.friend.ly.net 12 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) The peak tie loops over a groove at the end of the spar and through a hole. peak-to-mean adj. measured or expressed as the difference between the extreme and mean values of a periodically varying quantity. ΚΠ 1965 Wireless World July 329/1 A recording level indicator should essentially be a peak registering type because music has a large peak-to-mean ratio. 1977 Jrnl. Appl. Ecol. 14 861 Point sources, such as factories.., have high peak-to-mean pollutant ratios and..large rural areas near conurbations..have low peak-to-mean pollutant ratios. 2002 Metalworking Production (Nexis) 31 May 37 For welding and drilling small parts, the high peak to mean ratio of pulsed YAG lasers helps to avoid overheating and distortion. peak-to-peak adv. and adj. (a) adv. between extreme values of a periodically varying quantity; (b) adj. measured or expressed as the difference between extreme values of a periodically varying quantity. ΚΠ 1922 Indianapolis Star 1 June 4/4 The radio waves are of definite length just as the ripples from a stone made in water are of different length measured from peak to peak.] 1945 Proc. Royal Soc. 1944–5 B. 132 425 Record (f), calibrating a.c. of 5 mV peak-to-peak and frequency 1000 per sec. 1962 J. H. Simpson & R. S. Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors ix. 219 The shift due to the rise in ambient temperature is thus relatively small and can be tolerated for peak-to-peak output-current swings of about 7 mA. 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 80/2 (advt.) Model 900 Nanovolt Galvanometer. Noise: Less than 2 nV or (2 pA) peak-to-peak for all source resistances. 1991 Lancet 2 Mar. 517/1 The technique is based on peak-to-peak measurements of fast background electroencephalographic activity during a visual evoked potential (VEP) study. peak-to-valley adj. = peak-to-peak adv. and adj. (b). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > particle physics > particle accelerator > [adjective] > of track: showing extreme differences peak-to-valley1952 1952 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 212 480 h_max. denotes the peak-to-valley height of the original irregularities. 1992 Nature 5 Nov. 71 (caption) Amplitude histograms with evenly spaced peaks and a high ‘peak-to-valley’ ratio will give relatively high positive scores. peak voltmeter n. a voltmeter that measures the peak value of an alternating voltage. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun] > unit of electromotive force > instrument measuring voltmeter1882 millivoltmeter1907 multimeter1907 kilovoltmeter1923 peak voltmeter1924 1924 Jrnl. Sci. Instruments 1 281 A compact peak voltmeter, using a thermionic rectifier for measuring positive and negative peak voltages up to 600 volts, is described. 1967 IEEE Trans. Electr. Insulation 2 80/2 The peak voltmeter may find wide application in corona routine measurements. 1988 Tasmanian Country (Nexis) 15 Apr. A robust, portable digital peak voltmeter for fence line checking. peak white n. a small pierid butterfly, Pontia callidice (or P. occidentalis), of alpine meadows in Eurasia and western North America. ΚΠ 1970 L. G. Higgins & N. D. Riley Field Guide Butterflies Brit. & Europe 50 Pontia callidice. Peak white... From Pyrenees and Alps through Asia Minor and Lebanon to Himalaya Mts., [etc.]. 1998 tr. V. Sbordoni & S. Forestiero Butterflies of World 246 (caption) Peak white (Pontia callidice, Pieridae). Derivatives ˈpeak-like adj. ΚΠ 1876 W. E. Griffis Mikado's Empire i. ii. 18 As Fuji, with his tall satellites, sweeps up from the land, so Japan itself rises up, peak-like, from the sea. 1894 Geogr. Jrnl. 4 412 The only peak-like elevations upon it are an irregularly distributed series of small volcanic bosses. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xxv. 547 How could tiny man out of earth and upon earth rear in such enchantment of line and color those enormous masses, those peak-like piercings of the sky? 2000 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 14049/1 The supernatant scattering has no peak-like features, consistent with all lipid and DNA contained within the isoelectric complexes. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). † peakn.³ Forms: 1500s pek, 1500s peke. Origin: Apparently formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: hoddypeak n. Etymology: Apparently short for hoddypeak n. Obsolete. A silly or foolish person; a dolt, a fool. Also peak-hoddy, peak-noddy.Quot. 1509 at peak n.² 2a was given in N.E.D. (1904) as an example of peak v.¹ ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > stupid person, dolt, blockhead > [noun] asseOE sotc1000 beastc1225 long-ear?a1300 stock1303 buzzard1377 mis-feelinga1382 dasarta1400 stonea1400 dasiberd14.. dottlec1400 doddypoll1401 dastardc1440 dotterel1440 dullardc1440 wantwit1449 jobardc1475 nollc1475 assheada1500 mulea1500 dull-pate15.. peak1509 dulbert?a1513 doddy-patec1525 noddypolla1529 hammer-head1532 dull-head?1534 capon1542 dolt1543 blockhead1549 cod's head1549 mome1550 grout-head1551 gander1553 skit-brains?1553 blocka1556 calfa1556 tomfool1565 dunce1567 druggard1569 cobble1570 dummel1570 Essex calf1573 jolthead1573 hardhead1576 beetle-head1577 dor-head1577 groutnoll1578 grosshead1580 thickskin1582 noddyship?1589 jobbernowl1592 beetle-brain1593 Dorbel1593 oatmeal-groat1594 loggerhead1595 block-pate1598 cittern-head1598 noddypoop1598 dorbellist1599 numps1599 dor1601 stump1602 ram-head1605 look-like-a-goose1606 ruff1606 clod1607 turf1607 asinego1609 clot-poll1609 doddiea1611 druggle1611 duncecomb1612 ox-head1613 clod-polla1616 dulman1615 jolterhead1620 bullhead1624 dunderwhelpa1625 dunderhead1630 macaroona1631 clod-patea1635 clota1637 dildo1638 clot-pate1640 stupid1640 clod-head1644 stub1644 simpletonian1652 bottle-head1654 Bœotiana1657 vappe1657 lackwit1668 cudden1673 plant-animal1673 dolt-head1679 cabbage head1682 put1688 a piece of wood1691 ouphe1694 dunderpate1697 numbskull1697 leather-head1699 nocky1699 Tom Cony1699 mopus1700 bluff-head1703 clod skull1707 dunny1709 dowf1722 stupe1722 gamphrel1729 gobbin?1746 duncehead1749 half-wit1755 thick-skull1755 jackass1756 woollen-head1756 numbhead1757 beef-head1775 granny1776 stupid-head1792 stunpolla1794 timber-head1794 wether heada1796 dummy1796 noghead1800 staumrel1802 muttonhead1803 num1807 dummkopf1809 tumphya1813 cod's head and shoulders1820 stoopid1823 thick-head1824 gype1825 stob1825 stookiea1828 woodenhead1831 ning-nong1832 log-head1834 fat-head1835 dunderheadism1836 turnip1837 mudhead1838 donkey1840 stupex1843 cabbage1844 morepork1845 lubber-head1847 slowpoke1847 stupiditarian1850 pudding-head1851 cod's head and shoulders1852 putty head1853 moke1855 mullet-head1855 pothead1855 mug1857 thick1857 boodle1862 meathead1863 missing link1863 half-baked1866 lunk1867 turnip-head1869 rummy1872 pumpkin-head1876 tattie1879 chump1883 dully1883 cretin1884 lunkhead1884 mopstick1886 dumbhead1887 peanut head1891 pie-face1891 doughbakea1895 butt-head1896 pinhead1896 cheesehead1900 nyamps1900 box head1902 bonehead1903 chickenhead1903 thickwit1904 cluck1906 boob1907 John1908 mooch1910 nitwit1910 dikkop1913 goop1914 goofus1916 rumdum1916 bone dome1917 moron1917 oik1917 jabroni1919 dumb-bell1920 knob1920 goon1921 dimwit1922 ivory dome1923 stone jug1923 dingleberry1924 gimp1924 bird brain1926 jughead1926 cloth-head1927 dumb1928 gazook1928 mouldwarp1928 ding-dong1929 stupido1929 mook1930 sparrow-brain1930 knobhead1931 dip1932 drip1932 epsilon1932 bohunkus1933 Nimrod1933 dumbass1934 zombie1936 pea-brain1938 knot-head1940 schlump1941 jarhead1942 Joe Soap1943 knuckle-head1944 nong1944 lame-brain1945 gobshite1946 rock-head1947 potato head1948 jerko1949 turkey1951 momo1953 poop-head1955 a right one1958 bam1959 nong-nong1959 dickhead1960 dumbo1960 Herbert1960 lamer1961 bampot1962 dipshit1963 bamstick1965 doofus1965 dick1966 pillock1967 zipperhead1967 dipstick1968 thickie1968 poephol1969 yo-yo1970 doof1971 cockhead1972 nully1973 thicko1976 wazzock1976 motorhead1979 mouth-breather1979 no-brainer1979 jerkwad1980 woodentop1981 dickwad1983 dough ball1983 dickweed1984 bawheid1985 numpty1985 jerkweed1988 dick-sucker1989 knob-end1989 Muppet1989 dingus1997 dicksack1999 eight ball- 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. sig. F.i A naye of you myght cause my herte to breke Alas I wretche and yet vnhappy peke Into suche trouble mysery and thought With syght of you I am in to it brought. a1529 J. Skelton Phyllyp Sparowe (?1545) sig. B.ii^v The doterell that folyshe pek. a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.vii^v Of suche Pater noster pekes All the worlde spekes. 1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Niez, an idiote, a peke hoddie [1593 noddie], a simple soule, a snekesbie. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † peakn.⁴ Forms: pre-1700 peick, pre-1700 peik, pre-1700 peke. Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.⁴ Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.⁴ Compare Middle Dutch pēke , Middle Low German pēk , peek , peik (German regional (Low German) Peek ). Compare peak n.² Scottish. Obsolete. A type of weapon with a long wooden shaft and a pointed metal head; = pike n.⁴ Also: a soldier armed with such a weapon; a pikeman. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > pike > [noun] staff-swordc1000 pike1487 pick1515 javelin1520 peak1543 1543 J. Stewart of Cardonald Let. 4 Oct. in Sc. Corr. Mary of Lorraine (1927) 34 To that effk thai and I the gedder hes brocht sellvar and artellery monesyzonis pekes and halbardes. 1547 in A. I. Cameron Sc. Corr. Mary of Lorraine (1927) 210 An thousand men of ordinance, hakbutteris and peikkis. 1668 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1909) 3rd Ser. II. 571 Peicks. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online December 2020). peakn.⁵adv. Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: 1700s peek, 1700s– peak. Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: a-peak adv. Etymology: Aphetic < a-peak adv., apparently sometimes arising from mistaken analysis of the adverb as a peak , indefinite article and noun. Compare earlier pike n.⁶ Nautical. Now chiefly historical. A. n.⁵ In phrases describing the disposition of a ship or its rigging. †a. to ride a broad peak: (of a ship) to have the yards approximately in the shape of the letter X. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Peek To Ride a broad Peek, is much after the same manner [as to ride a-peak], only the Yards are raised up but half so high. b. Defining the position of a ship in relation to that of the anchor cable. See also stay-peak at stay n.¹ 2c. stay-peak n. a position in which the anchor cable is in line with the forestay. short stay-peak n. a position when the anchor is too close to the ship to form this line; to ride a short stay-peak: to ride at anchor such that the anchor cable and forestay form a straight line. short peak n. = stay-peak n. long peak n. a position in which the anchor cable is in line with the mainstay. ΚΠ 1787 W. Hutchinson Treat. Pract. Seamanship (ed. 2) 250 When hove to a long peak by the windlass till a great strain is felt upon it by the ship's quick rising with the waves. 1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 117 A stay-peak is when the cable and forestay form a line. A short stay-peak is when the cable is too much in to form this line. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) Ride a short stay peak, is when the cable and fore-stay form a line; a long peak is when the cable is in line with the main-stay. 1985 P. Clissold Ansted's Dict. Sea Terms (ed. 3) 212 To stay peak, or ride a short peak or long peak (of old ships). When the cable and forestay were in about the same straight line it was a short peak. With the main stay and cable in a line, it was a long peak. B. adv. = a-peak adv. a. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [adverb] > positions of yards a-trip1626 a-peak1692 abox1801 peak1867 box1886 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) To stay peak..is when the cable and fore-stay form a line. 1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 127/1 An anchor chain is said to stay peak when leading a little forward; to short stay peak when the anchor is underfoot. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † peakn.⁶ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: peak v.¹ Etymology: < peak v.¹ (compare sense 3 at that entry). poetic. Obsolete. rare. The action of languishing, pining, or wasting away. Only in peak and pine (cf. peak v.¹ 3). ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > [noun] > reduced vitality depression1803 collapsing1855 peak and pine1868 devitalization1871 the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > action of becoming dejected moping1638 sinking1653 desponding1818 peak and pine1868 1868 R. Browning Ring & Bk. II. v. 141 The Babe's face, premature with peak and pine, Sank into wrinkled ruinous old age. 1887 F. W. L. Adams Poet. Wks. 95 And I held here By inactive malady's peak and pine. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2020). peakn.⁷ Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/, Irish English /piːk/, /peːk/ Forms: 1900s– pake, 1900s– peak, 1900s– peek, 1900s– peke. Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pike n.² Etymology: Apparently originally a variant of pike n.² (compare sense 2 at that entry); compare peak n.² Compare pook n. Chiefly Irish English (northern). = pike n.² 2. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > stooking > stook or cock > stack or rick in field pike1565 pook1607 wind-cock1610 pout1686 wind-mow1811 peak1953 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 206/2 Pake,..a stack of hay in the haggard. 1975 J. Y. Mather & H. H. Speitel Ling. Atlas Scotl. I. 258 Haystack, [Wigtown] pake (stack),..[Tyrone] pake, peak,..[Londonderry] pake, peek. a1981 G. B. Adams in M. Barry & P. Tilling Eng. Dial. Ulster (1986) 63 Peak, Peke, the final or penultimate hay heap. 1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 253/1 Pike, pake, peak, peek, pack, peck,..a usually round, conical haystack built either temporarily in a hayfield or in a stackyard. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). peakv.¹ Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: late Middle English–1500s peke, 1500s peeke, 1500s–1600s peake, 1500s– peak. Origin: Of unknown origin. Etymology: Origin unknown.It is not certain that all the senses placed here have a common origin. With sense 2 perhaps compare peak n.³ Sense 3 is sometimes taken as alluding to the sharp or emaciated features of a sick person, and hence to be derived from peak n.², but this probably represents a folk etymology. With sense 4 compare peck v.² 1. The 1509 quotation given in N.E.D. (1904) as an example of this verb, in the sense ‘? to fall, drop, sink’, is now regarded as illustrating peak n.³ (see quot. 1509 at peak n.³). Now rare. †1. intransitive. To slink, creep, steal along; to shrink away. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > move backwards [verb (intransitive)] > retire, withdraw, or retreat withdraw1297 recoilc1330 give place1382 arrear1399 to draw backa1400 resortc1425 adrawc1450 recedec1450 retraya1470 returna1470 rebut1481 wyke1481 umbedrawc1485 retreata1500 retract1535 retire1542 to give back1548 regress1552 to fall back?1567 peak1576 flinch1578 to fall offa1586 to draw off1602 to give ground1607 retrograde1613 to train off1796 to beat a retreat1861 to back off1938 c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 178 (MED) Thus did y so depart the feleship And gan me forth to my poor loggyng peke; But alle that nyght myn hert did rore & seke. ?1532 Tales & Quicke Answeres sig. Biv Conon peaked in to the courte, and stode where the kynge shulde passe by. 1550 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebell. 70 Wyat him selfe and v.C. men..peked on styll all alonge vnder sainct Iames parke wall, vntyll he came to charinge crosse. 1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 287 This done, our Ladye shrancke againe into her shryne, and the Clerke peaked home to patche vp his broken sleepe. 1598 R. Tofte Alba ii. sig. E3^v Not like vaine pleasure, who away doth peake, When he his Bark through want perceiues to leake. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 42 He over-rules him in his journey, that hee might not peake aside into this corner or that. †2. intransitive. To wander about dejectedly; to mope. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > be or become dejected [verb (intransitive)] > look dejected > move dejectedly peak1568 1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau ii. ii. sig. C.ij^v Fye brother Esau, what a foly is this? About vaine pastime to wander abroade and peake, Til with hunger you make your selfe thus faint & weake. 1594 R. Carew tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne ii. 57 And she or scornes, or seeth not, or gaue No semblance, so till then par [perh. read poor] thrall he peakt [It. il misero ha servito]. a1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhemists New Test. (1618) Pref. sig. E3 How much more would they..let him goe peaking alone after he hath been so corrupted. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 569 Yet I, A dull and muddy metteld raskall peake, Like Iohn-a-dreames,..And can say nothing. 1680 T. Shadwell Woman-captain iii. 36 He shall not stay. Ladies, you don't know what you do, If I shou'd suffer him, he'ld always be peaking after me. 3. intransitive. To flag or fail in health and spirits; to languish, waste away; to become sickly or emaciated. In later use only in to peak and pine (sometimes apparently echoing Shakespeare: see quot. a1616).In quot. 1580 probably with admixture of sense 2. In quot. 1789 transitive with away: to lose (time) in languishing. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] sicka1150 langernc1440 aila1500 peak1580 languisha1616 suffer1800 underfunction1941 the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > be or become dejected [verb (intransitive)] heavyOE fallOE droopena1225 lourc1290 droopc1330 to abate one's countenance (also cheer)a1350 dullc1374 fainta1375 languora1375 languisha1382 afflicta1393 gloppen?a1400 weary1434 appalc1450 to have one's heart in one's boots (also shoes, heels, hose, etc.)c1450 peak1580 dumpc1585 mopea1592 sink1603 bate1607 deject1644 despond1655 alamort?1705 sadden1718 dismal1780 munge1790 mug1828 to get one's tail down1853 to have (also get) the pip1881 shadow1888 to have (one's) ass in a sling1960 1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 64^v Poore sillie hen, long wanting cock to guide, Soone droopes and shortly then, beginnes to peake aside. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 22 Wearie Seu'nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peake, and pine. View more context for this quotation a1652 R. Brome Eng. Moor i. i. 1 in Five New Playes (1659) What! suffer you to pine, and peak away In your unnatural melancholy fits. 1709 Brit. Apollo 1–6 July This is no Pin-buttock'd Wench, That Peaks as if she'd took a Drench. 1789 C. Smith Ethelinde V. ix. 195 After pining and peaking away twelve or fourteen years of your best looking days. 1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. i. ii. 13 Croining and dwining, peaking and pining, at the fire-side. 1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Peak, to waste and dwindle in flesh. 1898 E. N. Westcott David Harum xvii. 149 She peaked an' pined, an' died when Billy P. was about fifteen or so. 1922 Times 1 Apr. 14/5 One little boy who had not grown for three years and had peaked and pined, suddenly began to put on weight and look happy. 1940 Times 24 Feb. 2/5 Presently one of the bullocks began to peak and pine; it grew more and more emaciated, ‘physicians were in vain,’ and it died. 1995 Opera News (Nexis) June 14 The drama component came blazing to life in 1992..but then quickly dwindled, peaked and pined to cynicism and going through the motions. †4. intransitive. to peak over the perch: to fall off one's perch (in quot. a1641 figurative: to die). Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [verb (intransitive)] forsweltc888 sweltc888 adeadeOE deadc950 wendeOE i-wite971 starveOE witea1000 forfereOE forthfareOE forworthc1000 to go (also depart , pass, i-wite, chare) out of this worldOE queleOE fallOE to take (also nim, underfo) (the) deathOE to shed (one's own) blood?a1100 diec1135 endc1175 farec1175 to give up the ghostc1175 letc1200 aswelta1250 leavea1250 to-sweltc1275 to-worthc1275 to yield (up) the ghost (soul, breath, life, spirit)c1290 finea1300 spilla1300 part?1316 to leese one's life-daysa1325 to nim the way of deathc1325 to tine, leave, lose the sweatc1330 flit1340 trance1340 determinec1374 disperisha1382 to go the way of all the eartha1382 to be gathered to one's fathers1382 miscarryc1387 shut1390 goa1393 to die upa1400 expirea1400 fleea1400 to pass awaya1400 to seek out of lifea1400–50 to sye hethena1400 tinea1400 trespass14.. espirec1430 to end one's days?a1439 decease1439 to go away?a1450 ungoc1450 unlivec1450 to change one's lifea1470 vade1495 depart1501 to pay one's debt to (also the debt of) naturea1513 to decease this world1515 to go over?1520 jet1530 vade1530 to go westa1532 to pick over the perch1532 galpa1535 to die the death1535 to depart to God1548 to go home1561 mort1568 inlaikc1575 shuffle1576 finish1578 to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587 relent1587 unbreathe1589 transpass1592 to lose one's breath1596 to make a die (of it)1611 to go offa1616 fail1623 to go out1635 to peak over the percha1641 exita1652 drop1654 to knock offa1657 to kick upa1658 to pay nature her due1657 ghost1666 to march off1693 to die off1697 pike1697 to drop off1699 tip (over) the perch1699 to pass (also go, be called, etc.) to one's reward1703 sink1718 vent1718 to launch into eternity1719 to join the majority1721 demise1727 to pack off1735 to slip one's cable1751 turf1763 to move off1764 to pop off the hooks1764 to hop off1797 to pass on1805 to go to glory1814 sough1816 to hand in one's accounts1817 to slip one's breatha1819 croak1819 to slip one's wind1819 stiffen1820 weed1824 buy1825 to drop short1826 to fall (a) prey (also victim, sacrifice) to1839 to get one's (also the) call1839 to drop (etc.) off the hooks1840 to unreeve one's lifeline1840 to step out1844 to cash, pass or send in one's checks1845 to hand in one's checks1845 to go off the handle1848 to go under1848 succumb1849 to turn one's toes up1851 to peg out1852 walk1858 snuff1864 to go or be up the flume1865 to pass outc1867 to cash in one's chips1870 to go (also pass over) to the majority1883 to cash in1884 to cop it1884 snuff1885 to belly up1886 perch1886 to kick the bucket1889 off1890 to knock over1892 to pass over1897 to stop one1901 to pass in1904 to hand in one's marble1911 the silver cord is loosed1911 pip1913 to cross over1915 conk1917 to check out1921 to kick off1921 to pack up1925 to step off1926 to take the ferry1928 peg1931 to meet one's Maker1933 to kiss off1935 to crease it1959 zonk1968 cark1977 to cark it1979 to take a dirt nap1981 a1641 T. Heywood & W. Rowley Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) iii. 25 If he should peak over the pearch now, and all fall to our elder Brother. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). peakv.² Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: 1500s peeke, 1500s peke, 1500s 1700s– peak, 1500s–1600s peake, 1700s pique. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: peak n.² Etymology: < peak n.²Sense 3b may perhaps belong at peak v.¹ (compare sense 3). 1. a. intransitive. To project or rise in a peak. Also occasionally transitive (in passive) in same sense. Frequently with up. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > fact or condition of tapering > condition of tapering to a point > taper to a point [verb (intransitive)] sharpa1200 peak1577 sharpen1611 acuminate1641 the world > space > relative position > high position > be in high position [verb (intransitive)] > rise to a summit peak1577 culminate1665 apex1895 the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill or mountain > [verb (intransitive)] > rise in peak peak1577 spire1687 1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iii. f. 14/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I To eschew the daunger of the craggy rockes there on euery side of the shore peaking. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iii. 52 Thee mount Leucates..Vp peaks to the viewing. 1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Dvii An other sort..are content with no kind of Hatt, without a great bunche of feathers,..peaking on toppe of their heades. 1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xv. x. 47 In these Cottian Alpes,..there peaketh up a mightie high mount, that no man almost can passe over without danger. 1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 556 The West part [of Derbyshire]..riseth high and peaketh up with hils & mountaines. 1716 J. Blanch Speculum Commercii 26 The Fashion of high Head Attire, peaked up like Horns, and long train'd Gowns for Women. 1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) xii. 307 Above that they had a brow-band, which came piquing down before, betwixt their eye-brows. 1852 B. R. Hall Frank Freeman's Barber Shop xv. 266 That cravat!—how superbly it was built up in white from his ruffled breast to his beardless chin..while that chin peaked up in a heaven defying style! 1865 Cornhill Mag. Aug. 330 The woolly hair..peaks down over the low forehead. 1922 Decatur (Illinois) Rev. 14 Mar. 14/8 The prairie farms of Central Illinois resembled lakes with a little knoll peaking up here and there. 1976 Woman's Day (N.Y.) Nov. 100/2 Don't overpluck, overpencil or change the place where your brows peak. 2000 Des Moines (Iowa) Reg. (Nexis) 25 Dec. 1 a A gentle face accented by bushy dark eyebrows that peak sharp as mountain tops when he talks. b. intransitive. Surfing. Of a wave: to come to a peak just before breaking. Frequently with up. ΚΠ 1962 T. Masters Surfing made Easy 65 Peak up, when a swell begins to break. 1965 J. M. Kelly Surf & Sea iii. 39 This is where the wave peaks up and first starts breaking. 1987 K. Lette Girls' Night Out (1989) 189 With no one else out there it's really hard to judge where the sets are peaking. I sat astride my board. 2. a. transitive. To bring to a head; to bring to a peak or maximum; to accentuate. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [verb (transitive)] > bring to or form highest point to bring to a head1603 culminate1659 cumulate1660 climax1807 pinnacle1840 peak1887 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (transitive)] > attach importance to > render outstanding aggravate1549 accent1595 to lay weight upon1600 emphase1631 circumflect1643 to lay (also place, put) stress on (also upon)1653 to set home1656 forestall1657 circumflex1661 signalize1698 to lay stress, weight, emphasis on or upon1748 emphasize1793 accentuate1817 stress1845 to rub in1851 to draw out1855 underline1880 punctuate1883 peak1887 underscore1891 to point up1926 1887 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 770 The accumulation of the national wealth..serves mostly to heighten and peak the great social inequalities as between the capitalist and the jobbing day labourer. 1961 T. H. White Making of President 1960 xii. 296 He might move his campaign into its third, or final phase, ‘peaking’ it for impact on the week end before election. 1990 Ironman Oct. 40/1 [Bodybuilding] is something I enjoy doing. I don't want it to become a job... I don't want..to have to peak my body every three or four months. b. transitive. Broadcasting and Sound Recording. To raise (the level of a signal, part of a sound mix, etc.). Also: to adjust (a control) so as to maximize the level of a signal, etc. Frequently with up. ΚΠ 1957 Pract. Wireless 33 718/2 When a station is found, the trimmers of range 5 are adjusted to peak it up. 1960 Pract. Wireless 36 375/2 Trimmers can be peaked for minimum meter reading. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ix. 158 As the scene comes to a close the speech is faded down and the effects are lifted to swamp the line. Then after the effects have been peaked for a few seconds they too can be slowly faded out. 1970 Single Sideband for Radio Amateur (Amer. Radio Relay League) (ed. 5) i. 22/2 The first step is to peak the i.f. transformers for the midband frequency of the filter. 2001 Sound & Video Contractor (Nexis) Dec. 14 I could have used the analyzer to peak up the waveforms for the best signal. 3. a. intransitive. To reach a peak or highest point; to attain maximum activity, intensity, number, value, etc.; (also) to reach peak condition. Also with up: to increase.Frequently with connotation of a subsequent fall or diminution. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > advance, progress, or develop [verb (intransitive)] > reach highest point to grow to a head1579 culminatea1662 climax1882 peak1937 1937 G. Sykes Colorado Delta iii. 39 Following upon the years of rather moderate discharge, the summer flood of 1890 had peaked up slightly above the average. 1954 Times 15 Dec. 15/1 The demand for aircraft products appears to have peaked for the time being. 1966 Punch 24 Aug. 238/1 Athletes are an awkward squad... Why does a young man fail to reach his potential on the day?.. His anxiety level is so high that he peaks too early. 1986 ‘J. le Carré’ Perfect Spy ix. 226 Paul had peaked early in life. Twenty years ago he had written promising plays... He wrote them still. 2003 A. N. LeBlanc Random Family xxxviii. 359 Albany styles..had already risen, peaked, and died in the Bronx. b. intransitive. colloquial (chiefly New Zealand). To decline or fall away from a peak of performance, condition, etc.; (also) to fail to perform a set task, to baulk. Now rare. ΚΠ 1937 M. E. C. Scott Barbara Prospers 206 The horses had peaked on him. 1953 T. A. G. Hungerford Riverslake 130 The head-betters..now tumbled to the run of tails, and before long the game began to peak. 1971 P. Newton Ten Thousand Dogs 145 I nearly peaked when the time came [to shoot my old dog] but the old chap never even knew I was there, and it was over in a split second. c. intransitive. Originally and chiefly U.S. With out. To level off after reaching a peak. ΘΚΠ the world > time > change > absence of change, changelessness > be unchanging [verb (intransitive)] > cease to change peak1940 plateau1951 to level off (or out)1958 1940 Wall St. Jrnl. 14 Feb. 17/1 It is realized, however, that earning power may have peaked out around December and that it may settle back to a somewhat lower figure starting this year. 1958 Washington Post 2 June A12/5 The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the cost of living index is ‘peaking out’. He follows this with the even more remarkable statement that the index may creep up further this summer after peaking out now. 1971 Daily Tel. 2 Mar. 18/6 Since margins peaked out in the latter half of 1969 returns have not been so impressive and the rate of profit growth between the two halves has slackened from 7 p.c. to 5 p.c. 2003 St. Louis (Missouri) Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 7 Nov. 26 The Federal Reserve estimates check volume peaked out at 49 billion a couple of years ago. 4. intransitive. colloquial. To have a peak experience (peak experience n. at peak n.² and adj. Compounds 2), esp. through the effects of drugs. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rapture or ecstasy > be rapturous or ecstatic [verb (intransitive)] > go into ecstasies > momentarily peak1970 1970 J. Howard Please Touch 20 People who ‘peak’ can transcend the mundane and feel ecstatically fulfilled. 1991 E. Currie Dope & Trouble ii. ii. 109 I took twenty-seven hits... And I started peaking man... I couldn't move right, man, like I could barely stand. 2003 East Bay (Calif.) Express (Nexis) 25 June He was also once hospitalized for a nervous breakdown after being subdued in a Sydney airport while peaking on acid and smack. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). peakv.³ Brit. /piːk/, U.S. /pik/ Forms: 1600s pike, 1600s–1700s peek, 1800s– peak. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymons: English peak , a-peak adv. Etymology: < peak (in a-peak adv.; compare forms s.v.). Compare French apiquer (1702 in sense 1a; 1687 in sense ‘(of an anchor cable) to take a vertical position’; < à pic : see a-peak adv.). 1. Nautical. a. transitive. To raise or tilt up (a yard) vertically or towards the vertical, so as to bring it parallel to the mast; (occasionally) to hoist (a sail) in this way. Esp. in to peak the mizzen. Frequently with up. Also intransitive. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > tilt yard topc1550 peak1626 speek1644 tope1669 cockbill1829 trip1840 1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 30 When you ride amongst many ships, pike your yards. 1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 45 To ride apike is to pike your yards when you ride amongst many ships. 1692 Smith's Sea-mans Gram. (new ed.) i. xvi. 79 Peek [printed Speek] the Mizon, that is, put the Yard right up and down by the Mast. 1729 W. Wriglesworth MS Log-bk. of ‘Lyell’ 18 Nov. At night it blowing hard with Rain, Peeked the Yards, and hauled up a Range of the Sheet Cable. 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Apiquer une vergue, to top a sail-yard, or peek it up. 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 242 They peek the yard against the mast to shift the sail. 1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship II. 255 To Peek the Mizen, to put the mizen-yard perpendicular by the mast. 1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. To Peak, to raise a gaff or lateen yard more obliquely to the mast. 1903 Outing Aug. 590/2 Although the wind is strong enough to blow down fish-houses, they peak up the white sail without thinking of a reef. 1959 Washington Post 16 Aug. c8/5 Peak Halyard, a line attached to a bridle in the center of a gaff and used to ‘peak up’ its outer end. 1970 Hudson River Sloops 28/2 It will require two six-part tackles to hoist and peak up the thirty-three foot gaff. 1989 Wooden Boat Dec. 69/2 If I wanted to sneak up on somebody fast, I would peak up and ease the sheet just a little bit. b. transitive. To raise (the oars of a boat) vertically out of the water. ΚΠ 1631 in R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 1508 They [sc. a Maltese galley] stopped and piked halfe their oares. 1836 N. Isaacs Trav. E. Afr. II. 347 They immediately hauled down their sail, peaked their oars. 1849 J. F. Cooper Sea Lions I. xi. 156 The men now ‘peaked’ their oars, as it is termed; or they placed the handles in cleets made to receive them, leaving the blades elevated in the air, so as to be quite clear of the water. 1888 W. B. Churchward ‘Blackbirding’ in S. Pacific 227 Sharp, man! Peak your oars, and sit down tight on the bottom. 1986 I. Wedde Symmes Hole (1988) 61 ‘And again!’ screamed Swindle, and then, ‘Peak oars!’—the box-line buzzed through the chocks. 2. transitive. Of a whale: to raise (its tail or flukes) straight up in diving vertically. Also intransitive. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [verb (intransitive)] > miscellaneous actions of whale calvec1000 spout1683 blow1726 peak1839 sound1839 fluke1840 mill1840 breach1843 white-water1856 round1881 1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 44 The flukes are then lifted high into the air, and the animal..descends perpendicularly..this act..is called by whalers ‘peaking the flukes’. 1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack vi. 28 How could he go down head-foremost, with peaking his tail in the air? 1885 Longman's Mag. 5 537 A whale had..dived perpendicularly—‘peaked’ in whaling language. 1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 3169/1 A whale raises or peaks its tail when diving. 2003 www.pbs.org 17 Dec. (O.E.D. Archive) It slipped beneath the waves without peaking its flukes and disappeared. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹eOEn.²adj.c1450n.³1509n.⁴1543n.⁵adv.1706n.⁶1868n.⁷1953v.¹c1450v.²1577v.³1626
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Peakn.1

Compounds

peakn.2adj.

Compounds

Derivatives

† peakn.3

† peakn.4

peakn.5adv.

† peakn.6

peakn.7

peakv.1

peakv.2

peakv.3

Peakn.¹

peakn.²adj.

† peakn.³

† peakn.⁴

peakn.⁵adv.

† peakn.⁶

peakn.⁷

peakv.¹

peakv.²

peakv.³