i Register
In some senses, peck is marked as obsolete, slang, UK. Watch for register when choosing this word.
peck
/pɛk/
noun 8verb 7name 5
Collocations
5ADJ.
old, picked, quick
VERB + PECK
bought, doesn't, fly, gave, give, kiss, ordered
PECK + NOUN
another's, cheek, lips, neck, oysters, peppers, rice, tree
PREP.
in, on, out, per, per, with
ADV.
away, mostly
Definitions
verb
1
To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird).
The birds pecked at their food.
The rooster had been known to fly on her shoulder and peck her neck, so that now she carried a stick or took one of the children with her when she went to feed the fowls.
2
To form by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument.
to peck a hole in a tree
3
To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument, especially with repeated quick movements.
4
To seize and pick up with the beak, or as if with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with up.
This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas.
1713 September 14, letter to Joseph Addison, The Guardian, issue 160. I HAVE laid a wager, with a friend of mine, about the pigeons that used to peck up the corn which belonged to the ants.
5
To do something in small, intermittent pieces.
He has been pecking away at that project for some time now.
noun
1
An act of striking with a beak.
2
A small kiss.
noun
1
One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; equal to approximately 9092 cubic centimeters in the imperial system or 8810 cubic centimeters in the U.S. system.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
22,110 bushels of French beans, at 6d. per peck, or 2s. per bushel
2
Similar units in other systems of measure, such as the Roman modius or Chinese dou.
3
A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
She figured most children probably ate a peck of dirt before they turned ten.
a peck of uncertainties and doubts
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
The birds pecked at their food.
Wiktionary02
The rooster had been known to fly on her shoulder and peck her neck, so that now she carried a stick or took one of the children with her when she went to feed the fowls.
Wiktionary03
And the Wicked Witch said to the King Crow, "Fly at once to the strangers; peck out their eyes and tear them to pieces."
Wiktionary04
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Wiktionary05
22,110 bushels of French beans, at 6d. per peck, or 2s. per bushel
Wiktionary06
I took his advice, and went to Billingsgate for the first time in my life, and bought a peck of oysters for 2s. 6d.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
Your note
not saved0 chars