peep
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: pēp
ipa: /piːp/
ipa: /pip/
ipa: [pʰip]
rhymes: -iːp
Forms: form: peeps
Etymology: From Middle English pepen, variant of piken.
Senses: examples: text: So saying she loosened some ivory screws of the guitar, so as to open a peep lengthwise through its interior.
ref: 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:
text: I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take a peep inside. / I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked"; […] then the door I opened wide.
ref: 1907, Robert W. Service, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, in The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses:
text: But at last Mr. Fox gave the order to stop. "I think," he said, "we had better take a peep upstairs now and see where we are. I know where I want to be, but I can't possibly be sure we're anywhere near it."
ref: 1970, Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 30:
text: Another wheel toy was a baker's barrow on wheels, 14 inches high; it was filled with buns, loaves, and crumpets and came from Hamley's. This toy in 1959 was a peep into the past, for wheeled barrows such as this one, had not been in use for a number of years.
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 84:
text: He did manage a brief peep at the building’s Rotunda as he called on members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in July.
ref: 1990 October 5, “Souter plans to get right down to work”, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, volume 85, number 154, section 1, page 14:
glosses: A quick look or glimpse, especially a furtive one.
examples: text: the peep of day
glosses: The first partial appearance of something; a beginning to appear.
examples: text: A boring lusterless attempt at pornography, a niche above the racks of pulp pocketbooks sold in the front room of peeps.
ref: 1981 December 1, Freddie Greenfield, “Insulting Prison Porn”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 11:
glosses: A peepshow.
Derived terms: sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: bo-peep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: by-peep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: day-peep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peek
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep-bo
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep bo
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peeper
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peepers
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peephole
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peeping tom
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peepless
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peepo
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep of day
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep out
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep pixels
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep show
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep sight
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peep-toe
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: peepy
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: pixel peep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: pixel peeper
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: tweep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: underpeep
sense: Etymology 2: Terms derived from the verb or noun peep
word: wink-a-peep