peek
/piːk
/verb [no object, with adverbial]
1Look quickly or furtively: faces peeked from behind twitched curtains...
- Judy bit her lip, opened the door to the operating room just a crack, and quickly peeked inside.
- I wait for Diania to wake and dress, then I slip out of the storage facility and, still twitching, peek out into the room.
- She peeks under the wrapping quickly then sets it back.
Synonyms
peep, have a peep, have a peek, take a secret look, spy, take a sly/stealthy look, sneak a look, glance, cast a brief look, look hurriedly, look, peer;
Scottish keek
informal take a gander, have a look-see, give someone/something a/the once-over, have a squint
British informal have a dekko, have/take a butcher's, take a shufti
1.1Protrude slightly so as to be just visible: his socks were so full of holes his toes peeked through...
- The distant rays of the sun had just begun to peek slightly over the horizon.
- He noticed one of her toes peeking out of a shoe - covered with dust, just like his own bare toes.
- They did, and when I walked, the tips of the toes peeked out beneath the folds of silk.
Synonyms
appear (slowly/partly), show, come into view/sight, make an appearance, put in an appearance, present oneself/itself, become visible, emerge, issue, peep, peer out, surface, loom, show one's/its face, come to light, spring up, pop up
noun
A quick or furtive look: she sneaked a peek at the map...
- Every now and then he heard a mumble or something else that caused him to sneak a quick peek at her.
- He dared to sneak a quick peek at the judge and saw that there were tears in her eyes.
- It started to rain inside the classroom although (after a quick peek at the window) it was sunny outside.
Synonyms
secret look, sly look, stealthy look, sneaky look, peep, glance, glimpse, brief/hurried/quick look, look, peer;
Scottish keek
informal gander, look-see, squint, eyeful
British informal dekko, butcher's, shufti
New Zealand informal Jack Nohi
Usage
The word meaning ‘look quickly or furtively’ and ‘a quick or furtive look’ is peek, not peak: the sun peeks out only intermittently, a sneak peek at what’s in store. In some contexts this error is very common: for example, almost a third of citations for the expression a sneak peek in the Oxford English Corpus are for the incorrect spelling.
Origin
Late Middle English pike, pyke, of unknown origin.