▪ I. peak, n.2
(piːk)
Forms: 6 pek, peke, 6–7 peake, 8 peek, 7– peak.
[Known from 16th c. as a later equivalent of pike n.1; in 15th c. the deriv. peked, peaked, appears as an equivalent of piked. The phonetic relations are difficult to understand; but cf. MLG. pêk, peik, ‘pick, pike, pointed iron instrument’. It is notable that in sense 1, peak is identical with beak. (Ir. peac is from Eng.).
The connexion between pike n.1 and peak appears in the adjs. piked, peaked. From pike, the long point of a 14th c. shoe, instanced in Wyclif c 1380, we have piked schone in Langland P. Pl., 1377. These appear c 1450–60 as pekyd, peked schone, being the first appearance of the peke-, peak- form. Peake itself is exemplified in Palsgr., 1530. In the 16th c. the forms pike and peak appear to have gone apart in sense, pike being confined more to a sharp piercing or pricking point (perhaps under the influence of pike n.3, the weapon, introduced early in that century), while peak is more associated with the notion of a projecting point, not specially sharp or acuminate. Peak as a pointed mountain-top, or conical mountain (sense 5) is a still later (17th c.) substitution for an earlier pike.]
I. 1. A projecting point; a pointed or tapering extremity; † a beak or bill. Now rare (cf. 5 c).
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 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. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 405 There breed in Trees certaine small beasts almost like to Weeuils,..certaine of them haue long and sharpe pointed peakes or bills, these doe great harme to grafts and other young Trees. 1706 Phillips, Peak, the sharp Point of any thing. 1818 Keats Endym. iv. 497 The moon put forth a little diamond peak, No bigger than an unobserved star. |
† b. In specific applications: The projecting front of a head-dress, formerly esp. of a widow's hood. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 253/1 Peake of a ladyes mourning heed, biquoquet. 1611 Cotgr., Biquoquet, the peake of a Ladies mourning hood. 1706 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 D'Urfey Pills II. 11 The Buxom Widdow with Bandore and Peak. |
† c. Any pointed projecting part of a garment or article of apparel. Obs.
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks (Grosart) V. 145 A close⁓bellied dublet comming downe with a peake behinde as farre as the crupper. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 170 The colours of their coates weare raised with a peake behind to keepe the necke warme. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. vi. 114 Frontlets were worn betwixt their eies..hanging down on a peak from their foreheads. 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3234/4 A Childs Peak with a Scarlet Riband,..a red Riband Stomacher. 1795 Anderson 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. 1808–18 Jamieson, Peak, a triangular piece of linen, binding the hair below a child's cap or woman's toy. |
d. The point of a beard; † a pointed beard.
| 1592–3 Nashe Four Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 220 A iolly long red peake, like the spire of a steeple hee cherisht continually without cutting. 1619 H. Hutton Follie's Anat. A viij, Hauing his beard precisely cut ith' peake. c 1620 Fletcher & Massinger Double Marriage iii. i, How he has..run your beard into a peak of twenty! 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 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. |
e. The projecting part of the brim of a man's cap or the like.
| 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 136 A Cap of Crimson Tissu, with a Chapplet of gold, that hath a peake before, not unlike the Flower-Deluces. 1866 Routledge's Ev. 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 Black Pr. Thule i, The rain that fell off the peak of his sailor's cap. |
f. An advancing or retreating point formed by the hair on the forehead.
| 1833 Bray Tamar & Tavy (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. 1849 Longfellow Kavanagh viii, She had on her forehead what is sometimes denominated a ‘widow's peak’,—that is to say, her hair grew down to a point in the middle. 1938 A. Morris Step-by-Step Method Water Waving 39 (caption) Hair line showing peak and receding part over eyes. 1951 A. Seton Foxfire ii. 42 She had soft hair.., and it curled all around her heart-shaped face. Really heart-shaped, because a widow's peak cleft the white forehead. 1971 W. Cooper Hair vii. 206 In English folklore, if a woman's hair grows to a point low on the brow, it is said to indicate that she will live to be a widow, and so it is often called a ‘widow's peak’. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions xxiii. 339 A small muslin turban..covered her hair and showed only the deep widow's peak in the angle where its folds crossed. |
2. A promontory or point of land; a headland. Now local.
The lofty headland at Ravenscar, forming the southern extremity of Robin Hood's Bay, is stated in the Whitby guide-book to be called ‘The Peak’.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts xiii. 46 Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia, whiche is a great promontorye, or peake on the weste parte of Antioche. |
† 3. Lace; also spec. a lace-ruff (quot. 1591). Obs.
| 1591 Lodge Catharos (Hunterian Cl.) 57 Our picked yongsters hauing their peakes starched for feare of stirring. 1692 Coles, Peak, (old word) lace. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Peak, any kind of Lace. [Hence in Grose, Halliwell, etc.] |
4. Naut. a. The narrowed extremity of a ship's hold at the bow, the forepeak; also the corresponding part at the stern, the after-peak.
| 1693 [see forepeak]. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., 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. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., After-peak, the contracted part of a vessel's hold, which lies in the run, or aftermost portion of the hold, in contradistinction to forepeak. 1895 E. R. Suffling Land of Broads 25 Forward in the peak is a small American cooking-stove. |
b. ‘The upper outer corner of those sails which are extended by a gaff’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); also, the upper end of a gaff. Hence gaff peak, mizzen peak.
| 1711 [implied in peak-brail: see 6]. 1762–9 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 387 The head..In balance near the lofty peak they bound;..The halyards throat and peak are next applied. 1806 A. Duncan Nelson 75 Nelson directed his fleet to hoist four lights..at the mizen peak. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast ix, A long, sharp brig,..with..English colours 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. |
c. The point at the end of a fluke of an anchor; = pea n.3
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §143 The anchor..became suspended by the bowsprit, with the Peak upwards. 1867 Smyth 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. |
II. Later form of pike, as used of a mountain.
This comes up in 17th c., and first in uses representing Sp., Pr. pico. (But in the names of mountain summits in the NW. of England pike remains unchanged.)
5. The pointed top of a mountain; a mountain or hill having a more or less pointed summit, or of conical form.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 112 The top of the high Peake of Damoan..like a Sugar-loafe. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 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]. 1718 Prior Cloe hunting, On Meander's bank, or Latmus' peak. 1759 tr. Adanson's Voy. Senegal 8 The Peak of Tenerif [F. le Pic de Ténérif]..appeared to us in the form of a pyramid, or more properly, of a sugar⁓loaf. 1789 Stockdale Phillip's Voy. Botany Bay iii, Travellers have delighted to speak of the Peak of Teneriffe as the highest mountain in the ancient world. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 92 This mountain is called the Three Paps, because it's three peaks have that form. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. i. ii. 76 The next day we ascended the highest peak..of the Sinai range. 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. xiii. §6 The notable range of jagged peaks which bound the horizon to the North East of Mont Blanc. 1877 A. Brassey Voy. Sunbeam ii, We all rose early..to catch the first glimpse of the famous Peak of Teneriffe... It was quite ten o'clock before we saw the Peak, towering above the clouds, right ahead, about fifty-nine miles off. |
b. fig. Highest point, summit.
| 1784 Cowper Task iii. 157 Some..travel Nature up To the sharp peak of her sublimest height, And tell us whence the stars. 1820 Shelley Hymn Apollo v, I stand at noon upon the peak of Heaven. 1822 ― Triumph of Life 222 The peak From which a thousand climbers have before Fall'n, as Napoleon fell. 1894 H. Drummond Ascent of Man 233 Every summit in Evolution is the base of some grander peak. |
c. transf. The pointed top of anything; spec. one on a graph (cf. sense 5 e).
(Appears to combine sense 1 with 5.)
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iv, 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. 1849 Lytton Caxtons iii. v, Roland's forehead was singularly high, and rose to a peak in the summit. 1855 Tennyson Maud i. vi. i, The budded peaks of the wood are bow'd, Caught and cuff'd by the gale. 1922 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 1024/1 The potential difference of the arc electrodes is an irregular curve with sharp peaks. 1926 W. R. Inge Lay Thoughts ii. i. 89 If we look at a chart of the births and deaths in Germany for the two generations before the Great War we shall see that each war is marked by a peak in the line showing the death rate and a ravine in the line showing the birth rate. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 212/1 The corresponding histogram of conjugated bilirubin is markedly bimodal, and also shows an artificial peak at 0·5 mg. (100 ml.). |
d. ‘The high sharp ridge-bone of the head of a setter-dog’ (Cent. Dict. 1890, citing Sportsman's Gazetteer).
e. A highest point in a period of any varying quantity, as electric power, traffic flow, prices, etc.; the time when this occurs; a culminating point or climax. Cf. sense 5 c.
| 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 35/1 Accumulators will take the peaks of the load, relieving the machinery from sudden jerks. 1923 Daily Mail 28 May 4 We have long since passed the peak in this unpleasant business. 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. 1943 Sun (Baltimore) 2 July 17/1 Steels enjoyed a last minute upswing and assorted favorites emerged..a number at three year peaks. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio iii. 63 The closer one gets to an open piano, the more the transients associated with the strike tone will be apparent; at their strongest..they may be difficult to control without..risking momentary distortion on the peaks. 1967 Listener 23 Mar. 386/2 The nuclear disarmament campaign was already past its peak. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 219/2 This is a continuous-flow analyser with its output arranged so that individual results are produced as voltage peaks following one another at intervals. 1971 Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 68/2 It is a basic hi-fi requirement that peaks should be accommodated without serious distortion. 1976 Daily Tel. 20 July 1/5 At the peak of the wages rush last year, the annual rate of increase of earnings reached 30 per cent. |
f. Phonetics. The most prominent sound in a syllable with regard to sonority.
| 1935 J. S. Kenyon Amer. Pronunc. (ed. 6) 69 The phonetic center, or ‘peak’ of a syllable is its point of greatest sonority. 1942 Bloch & Trager Outl. Linguistic Analysis 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. 1964 E. Palmer tr. Martinet's Elem. Gen. Linguistics ii. 52 A consonant like [l] when placed between consonants of lesser perceptibility or audibility such as [p] and [k], may function as syllable peaks. 1965 W. S. Allen Vox Latina 2 Sounds which may function either as peaks or as valleys of prominence, whilst classified as vowels in their peak (or ‘nuclear’) function, are generally termed semi⁓vowels..in their valley (or ‘marginal’) function. |
g. Surfing. The highest point of a wave.
| 1963 Surfing Yearbk. 42/2 Peak, the highest point of the wave. 1965 Farrelly & McGregor This Surfing Life iv. 44/2 On most occasions in this sort of surf you take off straight down the peak. 1965 J. M. Kelly Surf & Sea ii. 26 The wind blows gently into the faces of the white-crested waves. It holds up their peaks giving you time to speed away on the clear green slopes before they break. 1968 Surfer Mag. Jan. 48/1 The way the peak was breaking didn't offer many rights. |
III. 6. attrib. and Comb., as peak-cap (sense 1 e); peak climber (sense 5 a); (sense 5 e) peak-clipping, peak-limiting; (sense 5 f) peak nucleus, peak satellite; peak-bearded, peak-capped, peak-crested, peak-like, peak-nosed, peak-roofed adjs.; peak-arch, a pointed or Gothic arch (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); peak brail Naut., a brail attached to the peak of a sail; peak downhaul Naut.: see quot.; peak experience, the momentary awareness of joy or fulfilment akin to ecstasy, of a higher and different quality from ordinary life, experienced by some people; peak factor Electr., the ratio of the maximum value (or the difference between the maximum and minimum values) of a wave to the r.m.s. value; peak halyard Naut., a rope or tackle for hoisting the peak of a gaff; peak listening (see sense 7 a); peak piece Naut., a piece of canvas used to strengthen the peak of a sail; peak programme meter (see quot. 1941); peak purchase Naut.: see quot.; peak shaving, storage of part of the gas produced when demand is low so that it can be used to increase the supply at times of peak demand; peak-to-peak a. and adv., (measured or expressed as the difference) between extreme values of a periodically varying quantity; also called peak-to-valley (rare); similarly peak-to-mean a.; peak tye Naut., a tye used for hoisting the peak of a heavy gaff (Ogilvie 1882); peak viewing (see sense 7 a); peak voltmeter Electr., a voltmeter that measures the peak value of an alternating voltage.
| 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. |
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 129 *Peek-brails. |
| 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. |
| a 1905 N.E.D., *Peak-capped. 1972 Drive Spring 147/1 A peak-capped driver at the helm of a Rolls-Royce Corniche. 1976 Field 30 Dec. 1275/3 A peak-capped figure on one knee beside a folded stretcher. |
| 1897 Edin. Rev. July 56 Let the *peak-climber reflect that there are between fifty and sixty heights in the chain. |
| 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. 1975 G. J. King Audio Handbk. iii. 60 For example, if the 1 kHz input sensitivity is 2 mV and peak clipping..occurs at 20 mV, the overload margin is said to be 10:1 or 20 dB. |
| 1879, 1881 *Peak crested [see blondinette]. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Peak downhaul, a rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by. |
| 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. 1969 H. Geiger in Sutich & Vich Readings Humanistic Psychol. xvii. 307 If..there should come a kind of ‘social’ peak experience..a new rhythm of humane historical relationships could be established in the world. 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. 1976 N. Postman Crazy Talk 85 Bombing the Vietnamese back to the Stone Age was quite possibly a ‘peak experience’ for millions of Americans. |
| 1914 *Peak factor [see crest n.1 7 e]. 1963 Williams & 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. 1970 IEEE Trans. Information Theory XVI. 86/1 The perceptual quality of synthetic speech signals depends to some extent on the ‘peak-factor’ (defined here as the difference between the maximum and minimum amplitudes of a signal divided by its root-mean-square value). Ibid., FM signals have low peak factors. |
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Ship, Plate Fig. i. 8 *Peak Hallyards. 1836 [see halyard 1 b]. |
| 1959 B.S.I. News Dec. 14 Recommendations regarding automatic gain control or *peak limiting have also been excluded. |
| 1871 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) I. 260 Just as this little *peak-nosed parson does. |
| 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 [h j w]. |
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 93 Mizens..have a nock-piece and a *peek-piece. |
| 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. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Peak purchase, a purchase fitted in cutters to the standing peak-halliards to sway it up taut. |
| 1960 *Peak satellite [see peak nucleus above]. |
| 1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Oct. 10/2 Pilot plants were being planned in this country a quarter century ago..looking for economic means of ‘*peak shaving.’ This is the practice in which standby sources of supply are used to meet demand at peak periods. |
| 1973 Times 30 July 11/3 Both are designed to absorb the stresses imposed on the gas supply system by a very cold day throughout the country in the depth of winter. The remedy is termed peak shaving. |
| 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. |
| 1962 Simpson & 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. 1973 Nature 9 Nov. 72/2 During the eclipse itself the stability of the aircraft was excellent: pitch {ltappr}0·1°, roll {ltappr}0·5° (peak-to-peak values). 1974 Harvey & Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. ii. 21 The peak-to-peak amplitude of the second harmonic between the collector and the tap on the coil is limited to approximately twice the line supply voltage. |
| 1957 Physical Rev. CV. 1416/2 Nuclear emulsion as a target was found to have a significantly weaker asymmetry (*peak-to-valley ratio of 1·40 {pm} 0·07). |
| 1924 Jrnl. Sci. Instrum. I. 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 II. 80/2 The peak voltmeter may find wide application in corona routine measurements. |
7. Passing into adj. a. Characterized by or pertaining to a greatest value or largest number; peak-listening, peak-viewing, listening to the radio, or viewing of television, by the largest audience of the day; freq. attrib. (from a false analysis of phrases like peak listening-period as peak-listening period).
| 1903 Electr. World & Engin. 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. 1924 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 3/4 A drop of nearly {pstlg}40,000,000 in pensions expenditure since the ‘peak’ year of 1920–21 is mentioned. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXII. (Suppl.) 1 Traffic congestion at the ‘peak hours’ is deplorable. 1946 Vogue June 2/2 The Sunday evening peak-listening series, ‘The Challenge of our Time’. 1948 E. Waugh Loved One 57 It was as though..his speech came from some distant and august studio; everything he said might have been for a peak-hour listening period. 1949 Radio Times 15 July 31/2 Leonard Hooper, a..dining-car attendant, tells you something about his work..especially during the holiday peak periods. 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. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxv. 158 One long fluorescent day punctuated by interrogations like TV commercials in a peak hour play. 1966 B.B.C. Handbk. 14 A serious endeavour to improve the range of peak-time programmes. 1966 Listener 5 May 643/2 The peak age [for juvenile crime] is during the last year at school. 1969 G. Rees St Michael xv. 184 It was not until 1948 that the figures of turnover exceeded those of the previous peak year of 1941. 1974 Times 19 Dec. 2/7 The fare rises..will not arrest traffic growth. Peak services to holiday areas..are being increased. 1976 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts June 360/2 It would have been stupid and arrogant to think that ‘Nobody will want all that news at the peak hour’ or ‘They ought to have half an hour's news, it is good for them.’ 1977 Herald (Melbourne) 18 Jan. 1/1 A packed peak-hour express train tore down an overhead bridge. |
b. Greatest; that is a maximum.
| 1903 [see load n. 3 f]. 1930 Daily Express 6 Sept. 10/1 Ordinary shares..reached a peak price of 26s. 10½d. during the ‘boom’. 1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 180 At peak production, the Halifax group turned out one complete aircraft every working hour. 1949 R.-M. S. Heffner Gen. Phonetics ii. v. 79 Two resonators with peak resonances below 1,200 cycles per second. 1950 Engineering 10 Feb. 168/2 Each cylinder of a multi-cylinder engine may be fitted with one of these gauges, and the peak pressures attained..are then read at a glance. 1958 Times Rev. Industry May 24/3 Important for the overall economy of gas supply are the processes used to produce for peak loads. 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. 1973 S. Fisher Female Orgasm vii. 202 Ideation and fantasy do not..play a large or consistent role during the peak arousal phase. |
▪ II. † peak, n.3 Obs.
Also 6 pek, peke.
[Origin unknown: chiefly used in the combination hody-peke, hoddypeak, q.v., also peke hoddie, noddie.]
A dolt, noodle, silly creature. Cf. peak-goose.
| a 1529 Skelton P. Sparowe 409 The doterell, that folyshe pek. ― Col. Cloute 264 Of suche Paternoster pekes All the worlde spekes. 1549–89 [see hoddypeak]. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Niez, an idiote, a peke hoddie [1593 noddie], a simple soule, a snekesbie. |
▪ III. peak, n.4, peek Sc.
[Of uncertain origin: in Sc. dialects distinct in pronunciation (piːk) from peak n.2 (pik), to which otherwise it might be referred.]
A small point of flame. Hence peekie dim.
| 1887 Donaldson Suppl. Jamieson, Peak, peek, a very small quantity, a mere pick; as, ‘a peak o' licht, a peek o' fire’. a 1893 J. Smith in R. Ford Harp Perth. 306 Richt eerie at nicht Was yon peekie o' licht. 1903 Dundee Advertiser 22 Dec. 7 By the feeble light of the gas jet, which was burning at a ‘peak’. |
▪ IV. peak, n.5
variant of peag, wampum.
▪ V. peak, v.1
(piːk)
Also 6 peeke, peke, pecke, 6–7 peake.
[Found early in 16th c.; origin uncertain.
It is not even certain that all the senses here collected have the same origin. Sense 1, and esp. 1 b (which also appears as pecke), may be related to peck v.2 3; sense 3 is possibly related to peak n.3: cf. peaking ppl. a. 1, peakish a.1 1; sense 4 is usually taken as referring to the sharp or emaciated features of a sick person; but this may be a later association with peak n.2: cf. peaking ppl. a. 2, peakish a.1 3, peaky a.2]
† 1. intr. ? To fall, drop, sink. Obs.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. xxvii, Alas! I wretche and yet unhappy peke Into suche trouble, misery, and thought. |
† b. to peak over the perch: lit. to topple or tumble off the perch, fig. to die. Obs.
App. orig. a phrase of hawking. See perch for various parallel phrases, e.g. to tip over the perch, hop the perch, etc.
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 219 If it continewe three or foure dayes, moste assuredlie the hawke wyll pecke ouer the pearch, and dye. 1633 Heywood & Rowley Fortune by Land iii. H.'s Wks. 1874 VI. 398 If he should peak over the pearch now, and all fall to our elder Brother. |
† 2. intr. To shrink, to slink. Obs.
| [1550 J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Reb. 70 Wyat him selfe and v.C. men..peked on styll all alonge vnder sainct Iames parke wall, vntyll he came to charinge crosse.] 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 325 This done, our Lady shranke againe into her shrine, and the Clerke peaked home to patch up his broken sleepe. 1598 Tofte Alba (1880) 70 Not like vaine pleasure, who away doth peake, When he his Bark through want perceiues to leake. 1642 Rogers Naaman 42 He over-rules him in his journey, that hee might not peake aside into this corner or that. |
† 3. To move about dejectedly or silently; to mope; ‘to make a mean figure, to sneak’ (J.). Obs.
| 1568 Jacob & Esau ii. ii, Fye brother Esau, what a foly is this? About vaine pastime to wander abrode and peake, Til with hunger you make your selfe thus faint and weake. 1594 Carew Tasso ii. xvi, And she or scornes, or seeth not, or gaue No semblance, so till then par [? poor] thrall he peakt [il misero ha servito]. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 594 Yet I, A dull and muddy-metled Rascall, peake Like John a-dreames,..And can say nothing. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. Pref. (1618) 29 How much more would they..let him goe peaking alone after he hath been so corrupted. |
4. ? To droop in health and spirits, waste away; ‘to look sickly’ (J.) or emaciated. Chiefly in peak and pine, a Shaksperian expression repeated by many later writers, chiefly as emphasizing pine.
| [1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 158 Poore sillie hen, long wanting cock to guide, Soon droopes and shortly then beginnes to peake aside.] 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 23 Wearie Seu'nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peake, and pine. a 1652 Brome Eng. Moor i. i, What! suffer you to pine, and peak away In your unnatural melancholy fits. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 29. 3/1 This is no Pin-buttock'd Wench, That Peaks as if she'd took a Drench. 1789 C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) V. 191 After pining and peaking away twelve or fourteen years of your best-looking days. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago xiv, If he will but go right on about his business,..instead of peaking and pining over what people think of him. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., Peak, to waste and dwindle in flesh. |
Hence peak and pine as n., nonce-use, for peaking and pining.
| 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. v. 1603 The Babe's face, premature with peak and pine, Sank into wrinkled ruinous old age. |
▪ VI. peak, v.2
(piːk)
Also 6 peke, ? peeke, 6–7 peake.
[f. peak n.2]
1. intr. To project or rise in a peak. Also const. up.
| 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. iii. in Holinshed (1577) I. 14/2 To eschew the daunger of the craggy rockes there on euery side of the shore peaking. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 51 Another sort..are content with no kind of Hatt, without a great bunche of feathers,..peaking on the toppe of their heades. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xv. x. 47 In these Cottian Alpes,..there peaketh up a mightie high mount, that no man almost can passe over without danger. 1610 ― Camden's Brit. i. 556 The Western part [of Derbyshire] riseth high and peaketh up with hils and mountaines. 1865 Cornh. Mag. Aug. 330 The woolly hair..peaks down over the low forehead. 1929 R. Bridges Testament of Beauty i. 23 Untill the pyramid in geometrical enormity peak'd true. 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. 1968 W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 10/3 If you find the wave you have caught is peaking up further along the beach from you, paddle towards the peak. 1976 Woman's Day (N.Y.) Nov. 100/2 Don't overpluck, overpencil or change the place where your brows peak. |
b. fig. To reach the highest point; to attain maximum intensity, activity, etc.
| 1958 Bird Migration I. i. 2 Common and Black-headed Gulls were usually present, the former peaking at 32 on 14th, the latter at 27 on 30th. 1961 T. H. White Making of President 1960 xii. 299 There were now eighteen days left to the campaign, and Mr. Nixon was free to take the gloves off and ‘peak’ in his own manner. 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. 1968 Guardian 21 Sept. 1/1 My campaign, according to the polls and surveys, has not peaked too soon. 1971 Nature 29 Jan. 304/2 Instead, the spectrum peaks around 4 keV and falls rapidly to both higher and lower photon energies. 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Apr. 366/5 That wild, speculative spirit peaked in 1929. 1974 Sci. Amer. Sept. 143/2 Only at relatively high occupational levels do the average earnings of men peak at the same time that the needs of their families are also peaking, that is, when the children are adolescent and of college age. 1975 Listener 8 May 615/1 Like so many of his ilk, Man Ray peaked early, and turned dilettante. 1976 Publishers Weekly 26 Apr. 52/3 Growth, the very life-blood of corporate capitalism, has peaked in our time and now begun a decline towards what Jones calls ‘a permanent recession’. 1977 Horse & Hound 25 Mar. 55/1 The eight [riders] named have been asked to programme their potential horses to ‘peak’ at this time but without too many competitions in advance. |
c. To level out after reaching a peak.
| 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. 1967 Technology Week 23 Jan. 55/3 When we learn just a trifle more about the hormonal control of brain development, these phenomena will peak out in human interest. 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. 1977 Time 29 Aug. 46/3 General Motors shares peaked out at almost 114 in 1965 and are now down to around 65. |
d. To have a peak experience (see peak n.2 6).
| 1970 J. Howard Please Touch 20 People who ‘peak’ can transcend the mundane and feel ecstatically fulfilled. 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 78/4 The hill with the tall fir cross, only 30 yards from where Michael and Ellen and I had peaked on the acid. |
2. trans. To bring to a head; to bring to a peak or maximum. Also const. up; and fig. to accentuate.
| 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. 1957 Practical Wireless XXXIII. 718/2 When a station is found, the trimmers of range 5 are adjusted to peak it up. 1960 Ibid. XXXVI. 375/2 Trimmers can be peaked for minimum meter reading. 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. 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. Ibid. 263 Peak up, lift the volume either of an individual component of a mix, or of the entire programme. |
▪ VII. peak, v.3 Naut.
Also 7 pike, 7–8 peek.
[f. pike or peak in the adv. a-pike, a-peak, vertically, straight up and down, or aphetic from the adv. itself; cf., in same sense, F. apiquer (1751) from à pic advb. phrase, vertically.]
trans. To place, put, or raise a-peak or vertically. a. To tilt up a yard vertically, or nearly so, by the mast; to top a yard; esp. to peak the mizen.
[Cf. F. apiquer, disposer les vergues d'un bâtiment à peu près verticalement.]
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 30 When you ride amongst many ships, pike your yards. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. ix. 45 To ride apike is to pike your yards when you ride amongst many ships. 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. xvi. 79 Peek [printed Speek] the Mizon, that is, put the Yard right up and down by the Mast. 1729 Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 18 Nov., At night it blowing hard with Rain, Peeked the Yards, and hauled up a Range of the Sheet Cable. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Apiquer une vergue, to top a sail-yard, or peek it up. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 242 They peek the yard against the mast to shift the sail. Ibid. II. 255 To Peek the Mizen, to put the mizen-yard perpendicular by the mast. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To Peak, to raise a gaff or lateen yard more obliquely to the mast. |
b. to peak the oars: see quots. (Cf. a-peak d.)
| 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. 1851 H. Melville Moby Dick II. vi. 42 The boat's five oars were seen simultaneously peaked. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Peak,..to raise the oars upright amidships. 1888 W. B. Churchward Blackbirding 227 Sharp, man! Peak your oars, and sit down tight on the bottom. 1890 Cent. Dict. s.v. Oar, To peak the oars, to raise the blades out of the water and secure them at a common angle with the surface of the water by placing the inner end of each oar under the batten on the opposite side of the boat. |
c. Of a whale: To raise (his tail or flukes) straight up in diving vertically. Also intr.
| 1839 T. Beale 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 Marryat Poor Jack vi, How could he go down head-foremost without peaking his tail in the air? 1885 Wood in Longm. Mag. V. 537 A whale had..dived perpendicularly—‘peaked’ in whaling language. |
▪ VIII. peak, adv. (n.1) Naut.
[Aphetic f. a-peak adv., which, by separation of its elements, appears sometimes to have been treated as a peak, indef. article and n.]
† a. In reference to the yards: (from ride † a-pike or a-peak: see a-peak adv. c), to ride a broad peak. Obs.
| 1706 Phillips s.v. 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. In reference to the cable and anchor: to stay peak, to ride a short stay peak = short stay a-peak; a long peak = long stay a-peak: see a-peak.
| 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 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., To stay peak, or 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. |
▪ IX. peak
obs. or dial. var. pique.
▪ X. peak
see peek n.1, v.1 and v.2