Sekirov Dictionary

peck

/pɛk/

verb 10
noun 7
forms 5
phrases 1

verb10

•
To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird).
- The birds pecked at their food.
To form by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument.
To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument, especially with repeated quick movements.
To kiss briefly.
•
To do something in small, intermittent pieces.
- He has been pecking away at that project for some time now.
To type by searching for each key individually.
(rare) To type in general.
•
To seize and pick up with the beak, or as if with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with up.
- This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. — 1595
•
To lurch forward; especially, of a horse, to stumble after hitting the ground with the toe instead of the flat of the foot.
- Anyhow, one of them fell, another one pecked badly, and Jerry disengaged himself from the group to scuttle up the short strip of meadow to win by a length. — 1928
To throw.

noun7

A small kiss.
An act of striking with a beak.
•
One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; equal to approximately 9092 cubic centimeters in the imperial system or 8810 cubic centimeters in the U.S. system.
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Similar units in other systems of measure, such as the Roman modius or Chinese dou.
•
A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
- She figured most children probably ate a peck of dirt before they turned ten.
Discoloration caused by fungus growth or insects.
•
(slang, no longer used) Food.
- Gemmen, have you ordered the peck and booze for the evening? — 1821

forms

pecked · pecking · pecketh · pecks · peckest

Phrases with peck

peck at
To eat unenthusiastically and in small bites.

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