GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 4 definitions

1.       
   Peag (pēg), n. [Written also peage, peak, peeke.] [Prob. of North American Indian origin, by shortening of wampumpeag.  RHUD.] A kind of aboriginal shell money, or wampum, of the Atlantic coast of the United States; -- originally applied only to polished white cylindrical beads.  See also wampum.
   
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
   
   
         
       

2.       
   Peak (pēk), n. [OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing.  Cf. Pike.]
   1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, “the peak, or front, of a cap”. “Run your beard into a peak.”  Beau. & Fl.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   2. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, esp. when isolated; as, “the Peak of Teneriffe”.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   Silent upon a peak in Darien. Keats.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   3. (Naut.) (a) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, “peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.” (b) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it. (c) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill. [In the last sense written also pea and pee.]
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   Fore peak. (Naut.) See under Fore.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
         
       

3.       
   Peak, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Peaked (pēkt); p. pr. & vb. n. Peaking.]
   1. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   There peaketh up a mighty high mount. Holand.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   2. Hence: To achieve a maximum of numerical value, intensity of activity, popularity, or other characteristic, followed by a decline; as, “the stock market peaked in January; his performance as a pitcher peaked in 1990; sales of the XTX model peaked at 20,000 per year”.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   3. To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly. “Dwindle, peak, and pine.”  Shak.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   4. [Cf. Peek.] To pry; to peep slyly. [archaic] Shak.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   Peak arch (Arch.), a pointed or Gothic arch.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
         
       

4.       
   Peak, v. t. (Naut.) To raise to a position perpendicular, or more nearly so; as, “to peak oars, to hold them upright; to peak a gaff or yard, to set it nearer the perpendicular.”
   
   [1913 Webster]