Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
- Entries
- 95,912
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- 2,133
Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Peep, v. i. p. 962To cry, as a chicken hatching or newly hatched; to utter a faint, shrill sound; to chirp. 2. To begin to appear; to look forth from concealment; to look slyly through a crevice, or with the eyes half…Peep, n. p. 962The cry of a young chicken; chirp. 2. First outlook or appearance; a sly look; a look through a crevice, from a place of concealment, or the like. Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn. Gray.Peep'er, n. p. 963A chicken just breaking the shell; a young bird. 2. One who peeps or looks out slyly; a prying person; a spy. Who's there? peepers, intelligencers, eavesdroppers? J. Webster. 3. The eye. [Cant.]Peep'-hole or Peep'ing-hole, n. p. 963A hole, or crevice, through which one may peep or look without being discovered.Peep'-shōw, n. p. 963A small show or object to be exhibited, viewed through a small orifice or a glass.Pee'pul-tree, n. p. 963(Bot.) See Pippul-tree.Peer, n. p. 963One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, or the like; an equal; a match; a mate. In song he never had his peer. Dryden. Shall they consort only with their peers? I. Taylor. 2. A…Peer, v. i. p. 963To come just in sight; to appear. [Poet.] “Like a proud river peering o’er its bounds.” Shak. So honor peereth in the meanest habit. Shak. See how his gorget peers above his gown! B. Jonson. 2. To…Peer'age, n. p. 963The rank or dignity of a peer. Blackstone. 2. The body of peers. “When Charlemain with all his peerage fell.” Milton.Peer'dom, n. p. 963Peerage. [Obs.]Peer'ess, n. p. 963The consort of a peer; a noble lady.Peer'less, a. p. 963Having no peer or equal; unequaled; matchless; superlative; as, peerless beauty or majesty. Unvailed her peerless light, And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw. Milton.Peer'less-ly, adv. p. 963In a peerless manner; matchlessly; superlatively.Peer'less-ness, n. p. 963The state of being peerless.Peert, a. p. 963See PEART.Peer'y, a. p. 963Looking sharply; inquisitive. “Two peery gray eyes.” W. Scott.Pee'vish, a. p. 963Habitually fretful; easily vexed or fretted; hard to please; apt to mutter and complain; querulous; petulant. She is peevish, sullen, froward. Shak. 2. Expressing discontent and fretfulness. I will…Pee'vish-ly, adv. p. 963In a peevish manner: fretfully; petulantly; with discontent and murmuring.Pee'vish-ness, n. p. 963The quality of being peevish; disposition to murmur; sourness of temper; fretfulness; petulance; as, childish peevishness. “When peevishness and spleen succeed.” Swift. Syn.- See PETULANCE.Pee'vit, n. p. 963See PEWIT.Pĕg, n. p. 963A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening boards to hang any thing on; a wooden nail or pin. 2. One of the pins of an instrument, on which the strings are strained. Shak. A peg lower, or a…Pĕg, v. t. p. 963To fasten with pegs. 2. Hence, to confine, restrict, restrain, or limit. I will not be pegged down to any plot, nor follow any walk. Landor.Pe-gā'se-an, a. p. 963Relating to, or resembling, Pegasus.Pĕg'a-sŭs, n. p. 963(Gr. Myth.) A certain winged horse of the Muses, who sprang from the blood of Medusa when she was slain, and with a blow of his hoof caused Hippocrene, the fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount…Pĕg'ger, n. p. 963One who fastens with pegs.Pēgm, n. p. 963A sort of moving machine in the old pageants. [Obs.] B. Jonson.Pĕg'ma-tīte, n. p. 963(Min.) A variety of granite, in which the quartz, as seen over the surface, has some resemblance to Oriental writing;—called also graphic granite. Dana.Pĕg'o-măn'çy, n. p. 963Divination by fountains.Pĕg'-tănk'ard, n. p. 963A tankard marked inside by pins or pegs dividing the liquor into equal portions, so that they who drank from it should share alike. [Obs.] Fosbroke.Pe-gu'an, n. p. 963(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Pegu, in Burmah, Asia.Pe-gu'an, a. p. 963(Geog.) Of, or pertaining to, Pegu, or its inhabitants.Pe-gu'er, n. p. 963(Geog.) A Peguan.Peī-răm'e-ter, n. p. 963An instrument for measuring the amount of resistance to wheel carriages on roads of different constructions. Francis.Peī-răs'tic, a. p. 963Making trial; designed as a beginning or experiment; experimental; tentative; treating of, or representing, trials or attempts.Peise, n. p. 963A weight; a poise. [Obs.]Peise, v. t. p. 963To poise or weigh; to counterbalance; to outweigh. [Obs.] “Lest leaden slumber peise me down.” Shak. But all the wrongs that he therein could lay, Might it not peise. Spenser.Pĕk'an, n. p. 963(Zoöl.) A carnivorous quadruped of the weasel family (Mustela Canadensis), found in Canada and the Northern United States; — called also the fisher. It grows to the length of from three to four feet.Pe-kē'ȧ, n. p. 963(Bot.) A genus of South American plants, one species of which (P. tuberculosa) yields the sawarra nuts of commerce. Baird.Pē'kōe or Pĕk'ōe, n. p. 963A kind of black tea, said to be scented with a shrub called pekoe. [Written also pecco.]Pĕl'aġe, n. p. 963The vesture or covering of wild beasts, consisting of hair, fur, or wool. [Obs.] Bacon.Pe-lā'ġi-an, a. p. 963Pertaining to the sea, or deep sea; as, pelagian shells.Pe-lā'ġi-an, n. p. 963(Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Pelagius, a monk of Banchor, or Bangor, in Britain, who lived in the fourth century, and who denied the received doctrines in respect to original sin, free will, grace…Pe-lā'ġi-an, a. p. 963Pertaining to Pelagius and his doctrines.Pe-lā'ġi-an-ism, n. p. 963The doctrines of Pelagius.Pe-lăg'ic, a. p. 963Pertaining to the sea; pelagian.Pĕl'ar-gō'ni-ŭm, n. p. 963(Bot.) A genus of ornamental plants allied to the geranium; stork's-bill.Pĕl'e-can, n. p. 963See PELICAN.Pĕl'e-coid, n. p. 963(Geom.) A figure, somewhat hatchet-shaped, bounded by a semicircle and two inverted quadrants, and equal in area to the square A B C D inclosed by the chords of the four quadrants. [Written also…Pĕl'e-grīne, a. p. 963Peregrine. See PEREGRINE. [Obs.]Pĕl'e-rīne, n. p. 963A lady’s long cape, with ends coming down before.Pĕlf, n. p. 963Money; riches; lure; gain; wealth; mammon; — generally conveying the idea of something ill gotten or worthless. It has no plural. “That they should not look to the paltry pelf of the moment.” Burke.…Pēl'fray or Pēl'fry, n. p. 963The same as PELF. [Obs.]Pēl'ī-can, n. p. 963(Ornith.) A web-footed water-fowl of the genus Pelecanus, larger than the swan, and remarkable for its enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch, capable of holding many quarts of…Pēl'i-coid, n. p. 963See PELECOID.Pē'li-om, n. p. 963(Min.) A variety of iolite, of a smoky-blue color. [Written also pelioma.] Dana.Pēl'i-ō'mā, n. p. 963(Med.) A livid spot upon the skin. Dunglison. 2. (Min.) The same as PELIOM, q. v.Pe-lisse', n. p. 963A heavy-wadded robe or coat, often furred. [Obs.] 2. A silk robe or habit worn by ladies.Pĕll, n. p. 963A skin or hide. 2. A roll of parchment. Clerk of the pelts, an officer of the exchequer, who enters every teller's bill on the parchment rolls, the roll of receipts, and the roll of disbursements.…Pĕll, v. t. p. 963To pelt; to knock about. [Obs.] Holland.Pĕl'lage, n. p. 963Duty paid on skins of leather.