Peel Peel transitive verb [ Confused with peel to strip, but from French piller to pillage. See Pill to rob, Pillage .] To plunder; to pillage; to rob. [ Obsolete]

But govern ill the nations under yoke,
Peeling their provinces.

Milton.

Peel Peel transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Peeled ; present participle & verbal noun Peeling .] [ French peler to pull out the hair, to strip, to peel, from Latin pilare to deprive of hair, from pilus a hair; or perhaps partly from French peler to peel off the skin, perhaps from Latin pellis skin (cf. Fell skin). Confer Peruke .] 1. To strip off the skin, bark, or rind of; to strip by drawing or tearing off the skin, bark, husks, etc.; to flay; to decorticate; as, to peel an orange.

The skillful shepherd peeled me certain wands.

Shak.

2. To strip or tear off; to remove by stripping, as the skin of an animal, the bark of a tree, etc.

Peel Peel intransitive verb To lose the skin, bark, or rind; to come off, as the skin, bark, or rind does; -- often used with an adverb; as, the bark peels easily or readily.

Peel Peel noun The skin or rind; as, the peel of an orange.

Peele Pee"le noun (Zoology) A graceful and swift South African antelope ( Pelea capreola ). The hair is woolly, and ash-gray on the back and sides. The horns are black, long, slender, straight, nearly smooth, and very sharp. Called also rheeboc , and rehboc .

Peeler Peel"er noun One who peels or strips.

Peeler Peel"er noun [ See Peel to plunder.] A pillager.

Peeler Peel"er noun A nickname for a policeman; -- so called from Sir Robert Peel . [ British Slang] See Bobby .

Peelhouse Peel"house` noun See 1st Peel . Sir W. Scott.

Peen Peen noun [ Confer German pinne pane of a hammer.] (a) A round-edged, or hemispherical, end to the head of a hammer or sledge, used to stretch or bend metal by indentation. (b) The sharp-edged end of the head of a mason's hammer. [ Spelt also pane , pein , and piend .]

Peen Peen transitive verb To draw, bend, or straighten, as metal, by blows with the peen of a hammer or sledge.

Peenge Peenge intransitive verb To complain. [ Scot.]

Peep Peep intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Peeped ; present participle & verbal noun Peeping .] [ Of imitative origin; confer Middle English pipen , French piper , pépier , Latin pipire , pipare , pipiare , D. & German piepen . Senses 2 and 3 perhaps come from a transfer of sense from the sound which chickens make upon the first breaking of the shell to the act accompanying it; or perhaps from the influence of peek , or peak . Confer Pipe .] 1. To cry, as a chicken hatching or newly hatched; to chirp; to cheep.

There was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped .

Is. x. 14.

2. To begin to appear; to look forth from concealment; to make the first appearance.

When flowers first peeped , and trees did blossoms bear.

Dryden.

3. To look cautiously or slyly; to peer, as through a crevice; to pry.

eep through the blanket of the dark.

Shak.

From her cabined loophole peep .

Milton.

Peep sight , an adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech.

Peep Peep noun 1. The cry of a young chicken; a chirp.

2. First outlook or appearance.

Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn.

Gray.

3. A sly look; a look as through a crevice, or from a place of concealment.

To take t' other peep at the stars.

Swift.

4. (Zoology) (a) Any small sandpiper, as the least sandpiper ( Trigna minutilla ). (b) The European meadow pipit ( Anthus pratensis ).

Peep show , a small show, or object exhibited, which is viewed through an orifice or a magnifying glass. -- Peep-o'-day boys , the Irish insurgents of 1784; -- so called from their visiting the house of the loyal Irish at day break in search of arms. [ Cant]

Peep sight Peep sight An adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech; -- distinguished from an open sight .

Peeper Peep"er noun 1. A chicken just breaking the shell; a young bird.

2. One who peeps; a prying person; a spy.

Who's there? peepers , . . . eavesdroppers?

J. Webster.

3. The eye; as, to close the peepers . [ Colloq.]

Peephole Peep"hole` noun A hole, or crevice, through which one may peep without being discovered.

Peeping hole Peep"ing hole` See Peephole .

Peepul tree Pee"pul tree` [ Hind. pīpal , Sanskrit pippala .] (Botany) A sacred tree ( Ficus religiosa ) of the Buddhists, a kind of fig tree which attains great size and venerable age. See Bo tree . [ Written also pippul tree , and pipal tree .]

Peer Peer intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Peered ; present participle & verbal noun Peering .] [ Old French parir , pareir equiv. to French paraître to appear, Latin parere . Confer Appear .] 1. To come in sight; to appear. [ Poetic]

So honor peereth in the meanest habit.

Shak.

See how his gorget peers above his gown!

B. Jonson.

2. [ Perh. a different word; confer Middle English piren , LG. piren . Confer Pry to peep.] To look narrowly or curiously or intently; to peep; as, the peering day. Milton.

Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads.

Shak.

As if through a dungeon grate he peered .

Coleridge.

Peer Peer noun [ Middle English per , Old French per , French pair , from Latin par equal. Confer Apparel , Pair , Par , noun , Umpire .] 1. One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, etc.; an equal; a match; a mate.

In song he never had his peer .

Dryden.

Shall they consort only with their peers ?

I. Taylor.

2. A comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate.

He all his peers in beauty did surpass.

Spenser.

3. A nobleman; a member of one of the five degrees of the British nobility, namely, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron; as, a peer of the realm.

A noble peer of mickle trust and power.

Milton.

House of Peers , The Peers , the British House of Lords. See Parliament . -- Spiritual peers , the bishops and archibishops, or lords spiritual, who sit in the House of Lords.

Peer Peer transitive verb To make equal in rank. [ R.] Heylin.

Peer Peer transitive verb To be, or to assume to be, equal. [ R.]

Peerage Peer"age noun [ See Peer an equal, and confer Parage .] 1. The rank or dignity of a peer. Blackstone.

2. The body of peers; the nobility, collectively.

When Charlemain with all his peerage fell.

Milton.

Peerdom Peer"dom noun Peerage; also, a lordship. [ Obsolete]

Peeress Peer"ess noun The wife of a peer; a woman ennobled in her own right, or by right of marriage.

Peerie, Peery Peer"ie, Peer"y adjective [ See 1st Peer , 2.] Inquisitive; suspicious; sharp. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.] "Two peery gray eyes." Sir W. Scott.

Peerless Peer"less adjective Having no peer or equal; matchless; superlative. "Her peerless feature." Shak.

Unvailed her peerless light.

Milton.

-- Peer"less*ly , adverb -- Peer"less*ness , noun

Peert Peert adjective Same as Peart .

Peerweet Peer"weet noun Same as Pewit ( a & b ).

Peevish Pee"vish adjective [ Middle English pevische ; of uncertain origin, perhaps from a word imitative of the noise made by fretful children + -ish .] 1. Habitually fretful; easily vexed or fretted; hard to please; apt to complain; querulous; petulant. "Her peevish babe." Wordsworth.

She is peevish , sullen, froward.

Shak.

2. Expressing fretfulness and discontent, or unjustifiable dissatisfaction; as, a peevish answer.

3. Silly; childish; trifling. [ Obsolete]

To send such peevish tokens to a king.

Shak.

Syn. -- Querulous; petulant; cross; ill-tempered; testy; captious; discontented. See Fretful .

Peevishly Pee"vish·ly adverb In a peevish manner. Shak.

Peevishness Pee"vish·ness noun The quality of being peevish; disposition to murmur; sourness of temper.

Syn. -- See Petulance .

Peevit, Peewit Pee"vit, Pee"wit noun (Zoology) See Pewit .

Peg Peg noun [ Middle English pegge ; confer Swedish pigg , Danish pig a point, prickle, and English peak .] 1. A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening boards together, in attaching the soles of boots or shoes, etc.; as, a shoe peg .

2. A wooden pin, or nail, on which to hang things, as coats, etc. Hence, colloquially and figuratively: A support; a reason; a pretext; as, a peg to hang a claim upon.

3. One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained. Shak.

4. One of the pins used for marking points on a cribbage board.

5. A step; a degree; esp. in the slang phrase "To take one down peg ."

To screw papal authority to the highest peg .

Barrow.

And took your grandess down a peg .

Hudibras.

Peg ladder , a ladder with but one standard, into which cross pieces are inserted. -- Peg tankard , an ancient tankard marked with pegs, so as divide the liquor into equal portions. "Drink down to your peg ." Longfellow. -- Peg tooth . See Fleam tooth under Fleam . -- Peg top , a boy's top which is spun by throwing it. -- Screw peg , a small screw without a head, for fastening soles.

Peg Peg transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pegged ; present participle & verbal noun Pegging .] 1. To put pegs into; to fasten the parts of with pegs; as, to peg shoes; to confine with pegs; to restrict or limit closely.

I will rend an oak
And peg thee in his knotty entrails.

Shak.

2. (Cribbage) To score with a peg, as points in the game; as, she pegged twelwe points. [ Colloq.]

Peg Peg intransitive verb To work diligently, as one who pegs shoes; -- usually with on , at , or away ; as, to peg away at a task.

Peg Peg noun A drink of spirits, usually whisky or brandy diluted with soda water. [ India]

This over, the club will be visted for a " peg ," Anglice drink.

Harper's Mag.

Pegador Pe`ga·dor" noun [ Spanish , a sticker.] (Zoology) A species of remora ( Echeneis naucrates ). See Remora .

Pegasean Pe·ga"se·an adjective Of or pertaining to Pegasus, or, figuratively, to poetry.

Pegasoid Peg"a·soid adjective [ Pegasus + -oid .] (Zoology) Like or pertaining to Pegasus.

Pegasus Peg"a·sus noun [ Latin , from Greek ....] 1. (Gr. Myth.) A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the body of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. On this account he is, in modern times, associated with the Muses, and with ideas of poetic inspiration.

Each spurs his jaded Pegasus apace.

Byron.

2. (Astron.) A northen constellation near the vernal equinoctial point. Its three brightest stars, with the brightest star of Andromeda, form the square of Pegasus .

3. (Zoology) A genus of small fishes, having large pectoral fins, and the body covered with hard, bony plates. Several species are known from the East Indies and China.

Pegger Peg"ger noun One who fastens with pegs.

Pegging Peg"ging noun The act or process of fastening with pegs.

Pegm Pegm noun [ Latin pegma a movable stage, Greek ..., orig., a framework.] A sort of moving machine employed in the old pageants. [ Obsolete] B. Jonson.

Pegmatite Peg"ma·tite noun [ From Greek ... something fastened together, in allusion to the quartz and feldspar in graphic granite: confer French pegmatite . See Pegm .] (Min.) (a) Graphic granite. See under Granite . (b) More generally, a coarse granite occurring as vein material in other rocks.

Pegmatitic Peg`ma·tit"ic adjective (Min.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, pegmatite; as, the pegmatic structure of certain rocks resembling graphic granite.

Pegmatoid Peg"ma·toid adjective [ Pegmat ite + -oid .] (Min.) Resembling pegmatite; pegmatic.

Pegomancy Peg"o·man`cy noun [ Greek phgh` fountain + -mancy .] Divination by fountains. [ R.]

Pegroots Peg"roots` (pĕg"rōts`) noun Same as Setterwort .

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