PECK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does peck mean? 

• PECK (noun)
  The noun PECK has 3 senses:

1. (often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

2. a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 2 gallons

3. a United States dry measure equal to 8 quarts or 537.605 cubic inches

  Familiarity information: PECK used as a noun is uncommon.

• PECK (verb)
  The verb PECK has 5 senses:

1. hit lightly with a picking motion

2. eat by pecking at, like a bird

3. kiss lightly

4. eat like a bird

5. bother persistently with trivial complaints

  Familiarity information: PECK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PECK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(often followed by 'of') a large number or amount or extent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

batch; deal; flock; good deal; great deal; hatful; heap; lot; mass; mess; mickle; mint; mountain; muckle; passel; peck; pile; plenty; pot; quite a little; raft; sight; slew; spate; stack; tidy sum; wad

Context example:

a wad of money

Hypernyms ("peck" is a kind of...):

large indefinite amount; large indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peck"):

deluge; flood; inundation; torrent (an overwhelming number or amount)

haymow (a mass of hay piled up in a barn for preservation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 2 gallons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("peck" is a kind of...):

British capacity unit; Imperial capacity unit (a unit of measure for capacity officially adopted in the British Imperial System; British units are both dry and wet)

Holonyms ("peck" is a part of...):

bushel (a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 pecks)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A United States dry measure equal to 8 quarts or 537.605 cubic inches

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("peck" is a kind of...):

United States dry unit (a unit of measurement of capacity for dry substances officially adopted in the United States Customary System)

Meronyms (parts of "peck"):

dry quart; quart (a United States dry unit equal to 2 pints or 67.2 cubic inches)

Holonyms ("peck" is a part of...):

bushel (a United States dry measure equal to 4 pecks or 2152.42 cubic inches)

• PECK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they peck    ... he / she / it pecks   
Past simple: pecked   
Past participle: pecked   
-ing form: pecking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hit lightly with a picking motion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

beak; peck; pick

Hypernyms (to "peck" is one way to...):

strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

pecker (horny projecting mouth of a bird)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Eat by pecking at, like a bird

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

peck; pick up

Hypernyms (to "peck" is one way to...):

eat (take in solid food)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

pecker (horny projecting mouth of a bird)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Kiss lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

peck; smack

Hypernyms (to "peck" is one way to...):

buss; kiss; osculate; snog (touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot peck Sue

Sense 4

Meaning:

Eat like a bird

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

peck; peck at; pick at

Context example:

The anorexic girl just picks at her food

Hypernyms (to "peck" is one way to...):

eat (take in solid food)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Bother persistently with trivial complaints

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

hen-peck; nag; peck

Context example:

She nags her husband all day long

Hypernyms (to "peck" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

She pecked on his nose, which by now, what of previous adventures was sore.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But the King Crow said: It is only a stuffed man. I will peck his eyes out.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"You ought to have sent word, or told me this morning, and you ought to have remembered how busy I was," continued Meg petulantly, for even turtledoves will peck when ruffled.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But the sparrow answered, “Not wretch enough yet!” and perched on the head of the second horse, and pecked at him too.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

In terms of pecking order, December 25/26 comes first, December 27 comes second, and December 15 comes third, but all are glittering days for your finances.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It was she whom I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

By observing which of them were pecked by the birds we avoided all danger of poison and added a delicious variety to our food reserve.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Yes, I know the spawn—complacently pecking at him for his Father Damien letter, analyzing him, weighing him—"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

On reaching the top of the social pecking order, however, meerkats remain ensconced within the group.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

Ha! mon petit, cried the bowman, you take me back to the days when you were new fledged, as sweet a little chick as ever pecked his way out of a monkish egg.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)