peep
/pip/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.39 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To look forth from concealment, especially through a narrow opening, or while trying not to be seen or noticed.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "I don't want to hear a peep out of you!"
- "Two big canopy beds packed with kilims and cushions in the corner of the hut are lit warmly in the glow of the paraffin lanterns as a peep of chicks run inside, quite bravely I think, since their elder relative just got the chop."
- "A peep of chicks feed in their cage at Oesterlings Lawn & Garden Thursday, April 14, 2022. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle"
- "The mean weight of a peep of chicks is 1.3 pounds, with a standard deviation of 0.4 pounds. Kevin wants to know the weight of the chick he is buying, but the seller only has the z-score of 1.25. How much does the chick weigh?"
- "With a "peep" from a high-pitched whistle, the train would leave by the crossover to the down line, […]."
- ""Peep, peep," said Edward, "I'm ready." "Peep, peep, peep," said Henry, "so am I.""
Etymology
From Middle English pepen. Compare Dutch piepen (“peep”), German Low German piepen (“to peep”), German piepen and pfeifen, all probably onomatopoeic.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: pepen
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pip/
- British English: /piːp/
Usage
- Colloquial
- Intransitive verb
- Dated
- Slang
- Transitive verb
- Obsolete
- British usage
- American usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military.