Word: peg Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare. (To indicate or ascribe an attribute to): Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list. Pronunciation: /ˈpɛɡ/, [ˈpʰɛɡ], /ˈpeɪ̯ɡ/, [ˈpʰeɪ̯ɡ] 1. A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects. 2. A protrusion used to hang things on. Example: Hang your coat on the peg and come in. 3. A support; a reason; a pretext. Labels: figuratively Example: a peg to hang a claim upon 4. A peg moved on a crib board to keep score. 5. A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is matched to the value of another currency or measure such as gold. Example: The following became obvious quite quickly – the cryptosphere needed a nonvolatile peg. 6. A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage. Labels: UK Example: This over, the club will be visited for a "peg," Anglice drink. Example: The name had come to mean any aromatic essence of herbs by the time the first thirsty colonial poured a peg of Who-shot-John into his mint water. 7. A place formally allotted for fishing 8. A leg or foot. Labels: colloquial, dated Example: "Now I'm cleaned up for thee: tha's no 'casions ter stir a peg all day, but sit and read thy books." 9. One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained. Example: O, you are well tuned now! / But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, / As honest as I am. Example: Did we form ourselves, choosing, and our powers? I find myself, for one, as a stringed instrument with chords and stops - but I have no power to turn the pegs, or pitch my thoughts to a higher or lower key. 10. A step; a degree. Example: to screw papal authority to the highest peg Example: We still have worsted all your holy tricks; / Trepann'd your party with intrigue, / And took your grandees down a peg[…] 11. Ellipsis of clothes peg. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 12. A topic of interest, such as an ongoing event or an anniversary, around which various features can be developed. Example: […] all news media keep a supply of features on hand, waiting for a peg to make them topical. Example: Journalists and prospective sources wishing to attract their attention are constantly on the lookout for pegs. The process by which a peg is identified is informed by news values. 13. A stump. Labels: slang Example: Lindy hit the pegs with five deliveries out of six. 14. The penetration during anal sex using a strap-on dildo. Labels: slang Example: Get your strap-on out and give me a nice peg! 15. A serving of brandy and soda. Labels: archaic, slang Example: I then ordered a "peg" (brandy-and-soda) to be brought to my tent, and returned to have a smoke before turning in again. 16. A serving of any hard spirit, particularly whisky. Labels: India Example: This is the sort of drinking that Anna Hazare fought to eradicate from Ralegan Siddhi, as Colonel Phatak explained, after I joked about an army man needing his evening peg of whisky before dinner. 17. A shilling. Labels: UK, obsolete, slang Example: The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence. 18. An easily recalled image that a person mentally visualizes with something else, in order to remember that other thing. See mnemonic peg system. Example: To remember this list of early psychologists, you recall each peg along with its image of an early psychologist that you placed there. Example: Multiple items can be stored at each location or with each peg.