Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Peep?

\Peep\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Peeped}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Peeping}.] [Of imitative origin; cf. OE. pipen, F. piper, p['e]pier, L. pipire, pipare, pipiare, D. & G. piepen. Senses 2 and 3 perhaps come from a transfer of sense from the sound which chickens make upon the first breaking of the shell to the act accompanying it; or perhaps from the influence of peek, or peak. Cf. {Pipe}.] 1. To cry, as a chicken hatching or newly hatched; to chirp; to cheep. There was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. --Is. x. 14. 2. To begin to appear; to look forth from concealment; to make the first appearance. When flowers first peeped, and trees did blossoms bear. --Dryden. 3. To look cautiously or slyly; to peer, as through a crevice; to pry. eep through the blanket of the dark. --Shak. From her cabined loophole peep. --Milton. {Peep sight}, an adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the breech.
\Peep\, n. 1. The cry of a young chicken; a chirp. 2. First outlook or appearance. Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn. --Gray. 3. A sly look; a look as through a crevice, or from a place of concealment. To take t' other peep at the stars. --Swift. 4. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any small sandpiper, as the least sandpiper ({Trigna minutilla}). (b) The European meadow pipit ({Anthus pratensis}). {Peep show}, a small show, or object exhibited, which is viewed through an orifice or a magnifying glass. {Peep-o'-day boys}, the Irish insurgents of 1784; -- so called from their visiting the house of the loyal Irish at day break in search of arms. [Cant]