What is "peck"

Peck \Peck\, n. [Perh. akin to pack; or, orig., an indefinite quantity, and fr. peck, v. (below): cf. also F. picotin a peak.]

1. The fourth part of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; as, a peck of wheat. ``A peck of provender.''
   --Shak.

2. A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. ``A peck of uncertainties and doubts.''
   --Milton.

Peck \Peck\, v. i.

1. To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument.
   --Carew.

2. To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat.

   [The hen] went pecking by his side.
   --Dryden.

   To peck at, to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease.

Peck \Peck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pecked; p. pr. & vb. n. Pecking.] [See Pick, v.]

1. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree.

2. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements.

3. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up.
   --Addison.

   This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas.
   --Shak.

4. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree.

Peck \Peck\, n. A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument.

c.1300, possibly a variant of picken (see pick (v.)), or in part from Middle Low German pekken "to peck with the beak." Related: Pecked; pecking.

late 13c., "dry measure of one-quarter bushel," of unknown origin; perhaps connected with Old French pek, picot (13c.), also of unknown origin (Barnhart says these were borrowed from English). Chiefly of oats for horses; original sense may be "allowance" rather than a fixed measure, thus perhaps from peck (v.).

"act of pecking," 1610s, from peck (v.). It is attested earlier in thieves' slang (1560s) with a sense of "food, grub."

Etymology 1 n. 1 An act of pecking. 2 A small kiss. vb. 1 To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird) or similar instrument. 2 (context transitive English) To form by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument. 3 To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument, especially with repeated quick movements. 4 To seize and pick up with the beak, or as if with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with ''up''. 5 To do something in small, intermittent pieces. 6 To type by searching for each key individually. 7 (context rare English) To type in general. 8 To kiss briefly. Etymology 2

n. 1 One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts. 2 A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. Etymology 3

vb. 1 (context regional English) To throw. 2 To lurch forward; especially, of a horse, to stumble after hitting the ground with the toe instead of teh flat of the foot. Etymology 4

n. Discoloration caused by fungus growth or insects. Etymology 5

n. (misspelling of pec English)

1. n. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must have cost plenty" [syn: batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, muckle, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad, whole lot, whole slew]

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

4. v. hit lightly with a picking motion [syn: pick, beak]

5. eat by pecking at, like a bird [syn: pick up]

6. kiss lightly [syn: smack]

7. eat like a bird; "The anorexic girl just picks at her food" [syn: pick at, peck at]

8. bother persistently with trivial complaints; "She nags her husband all day long" [syn: nag, hen-peck]

A peck is an imperial and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints (9.09 (UK) or 8.81 (US) liters). Two pecks make a kenning (obsolete), and four pecks make a bushel. Although the peck is no longer widely used, some produce, such as apples, is still often sold by the peck. Despite being referenced in the well-known Peter Piper tongue twister, pickled peppers are so rarely sold by the peck that any association between pickled peppers and the peck unit of measurement is considered humorous in nature.

A peck is a unit of dry volume.

A common misspelling of 'pec' the common abbreviation for the Pectoralis major muscle.

Peck is also a derogatory term for members of a race of dwarf-like people in the film Willow.

Peck may also refer to:

• Peck (surname)

Peck is a surname which can have two meanings. Either "one who dwells near the foot of a peak" or "one who deals in weights and measures". The name is thought to, but not proven to, originate in the Nottinghamshire/ East Midlands England, or Denbighshire in Wales.