The Collaborative International Dictionary
Peer \Peer\, n. [OE. per, OF. per, F. pair, fr. L. par equal. Cf. Apparel, Pair, Par, n., Umpire.]
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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. -
A comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate.
He all his peers in beauty did surpass.
--Spenser. -
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.
Usage examples of "the peers".
You're treading in the steps of a man better than half the Peers in the regiment.
Having so spoken the King withdrew into an inner chamber and the peers glanced uneasily at one another, no man wishing to speak before his neighbor lest his words be thought foolish and of small merit.
March wardens were nobles of the Third Rank, the peers of ahrkeethoheeksee, army marshals and lord councilors.
She turned her mind back to Boston, to what the peers of her social circles would be up to this weekend, but her thoughts came continually spiraling back to Penzance.