peck

¹ American  

[pek] / pɛk /

verb (used with object)

1. to strike or indent with the beak, as a bird does, or with some pointed instrument, especially with quick, repeated movements.

2. to make (a hole, puncture, etc.) by such strokes; pierce.

3. to take (food) bit by bit, with or as with the beak.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make strokes with the beak or a pointed instrument.

noun

1. a quick stroke, as in pecking.

2. a hole or mark made by or as by pecking.

3. a quick, almost impersonal kiss.

   a peck on the cheek.

4. (in timber) incipient decay from fungi, occurring in isolated spots.

5. Slang. pecks. Also peckings food; grub.

verb phrase

1. peck at

   1. to nibble indifferently or unenthusiastically at (food).

   2. to nag or carp at.

      Stop pecking at me, I'm doing the best I can.

peck ² American  

[pek] / pɛk /

noun

1. a dry measure of 8 quarts; the fourth part of a bushel, equal to 537.6 cubic inches (8.81 liters).

2. a container for measuring this quantity. pk, pk.

3. a considerable quantity.

   a peck of trouble.

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Peck ³ American  

[pek] / pɛk /

noun

1. Annie Smith, 1850–1935, U.S. mountain climber.

2. Gregory, 1916–2003, U.S. actor.

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peck ¹ British  

/ pɛk /

verb

1. to strike with the beak or with a pointed instrument

2. to dig (a hole) by pecking

3. (tr) (of birds) to pick up (corn, worms, etc) by pecking

4. to nibble or pick (at one's food)

5. informal to kiss (a person) quickly and lightly

6. to nag

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noun

1. a quick light blow, esp from a bird's beak

2. a mark made by such a blow

3. informal a quick light kiss

peck ² British  

/ pɛk /

noun

1. a unit of dry measure equal to 8 quarts or one quarter of a bushel

2. a container used for measuring this quantity

3. a large quantity or number

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Peck ³ British  

/ pɛk /

noun

1. Gregory. 1916–2003, US film actor; his films include Keys of the Kingdom (1944), The Gunfighter (1950), The Big Country (1958), To Kill a Mockingbird (1963), The Omen (1976), and Other People's Money (1991)

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Other Word Forms

• unpecked adjective

Etymology

Origin of peck¹

1300–50; Middle English pekken, peke, from Middle Dutch pecken, Middle Low German pekken; akin to pick ¹

Origin of peck²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pek(ke); of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Just how far his Sydney struggles have pushed him down the pecking order remains to be seen.

From BBC

That sent chills down the spines of Motor City executives who fretted—fairly perhaps—about safety and their pecking order in the world.

From The Wall Street Journal

For decades, chicken thighs rated so low in the national pecking order that U.S. poultry producers unloaded much of their dark-meat yield to hungry markets abroad in Russia, Mexico, and across Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal

Glenn brought a peck basket of them, from somewhere, and left it on Tansy’s desk.

From Literature

Abiding by the sartorial pecking order has become more complicated as the financial industry’s dress code has gotten even more casual since the pandemic.

From The Wall Street Journal