peak

Meanings

Noun

• A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
• The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.
• The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point.
• The whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated.
• The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
• The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
• The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
• A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
• Alternative of peag

Verb

• To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular.
• To become sick or wan.
• To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
• To pry; to peep slyly.
• Misspelling of pique

Adjective

• maximal, maximally quintessential or representative; constituting the culmination of
• Bad
• Unlucky; unfortunate

Related

Similar words

• culminate

Origin

• From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English *peke, *pek (attested in peked, variant of piked), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk, from Old English pīc, piic, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz ("peak"). Cognate with Dutch piek ("pike, point, summit, peak"), Danish pik ("pike, peak"), Swedish pik ("pike, lance, point, peak"), Norwegian pik ("peak, summit"). More at pike.
• Unknown.