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• peck
  peck

  verb (used with object)

  to strike or indent with the beak, as a bird does, or with some pointed instrument, especially with quick, repeated movements.
• Peck
  Peck

  noun

  Annie Smith, 1850–1935, U.S. mountain climber.

peck

¹ American  

[pek] / pɛk /

verb (used with object)

1. to strike or indent with the beak, as a bird does, or with some pointed instrument, especially with quick, repeated movements.

2. to make (a hole, puncture, etc.) by such strokes; pierce.

3. to take (food) bit by bit, with or as with the beak.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make strokes with the beak or a pointed instrument.

noun

1. a quick stroke, as in pecking.

2. a hole or mark made by or as by pecking.

3. a quick, almost impersonal kiss.

   a peck on the cheek.

4. (in timber) incipient decay from fungi, occurring in isolated spots.

5. Slang. pecks. Also peckings food; grub.

verb phrase

1. peck at

   1. to nibble indifferently or unenthusiastically at (food).

   2. to nag or carp at.

      Stop pecking at me, I'm doing the best I can.

peck ² American  

[pek] / pɛk /

noun

1. a dry measure of 8 quarts; the fourth part of a bushel, equal to 537.6 cubic inches (8.81 liters).

2. a container for measuring this quantity. pk, pk.

3. a considerable quantity.

   a peck of trouble.

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Peck ³ American  

[pek] / pɛk /

noun

1. Annie Smith, 1850–1935, U.S. mountain climber.

2. Gregory, 1916–2003, U.S. actor.

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peck ¹ British  

/ pɛk /

verb

1. to strike with the beak or with a pointed instrument

2. to dig (a hole) by pecking

3. (tr) (of birds) to pick up (corn, worms, etc) by pecking

4. to nibble or pick (at one's food)

5. informal to kiss (a person) quickly and lightly

6. to nag

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noun

1. a quick light blow, esp from a bird's beak

2. a mark made by such a blow

3. informal a quick light kiss

peck ² British  

/ pɛk /

noun

1. a unit of dry measure equal to 8 quarts or one quarter of a bushel

2. a container used for measuring this quantity

3. a large quantity or number

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Peck ³ British  

/ pɛk /

noun

1. Gregory. 1916–2003, US film actor; his films include Keys of the Kingdom (1944), The Gunfighter (1950), The Big Country (1958), To Kill a Mockingbird (1963), The Omen (1976), and Other People's Money (1991)

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Other Word Forms

• unpecked
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of peck¹

1300–50; Middle English pekken, peke, from Middle Dutch pecken, Middle Low German pekken; akin to pick ¹

Origin of peck²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pek(ke); of uncertain origin

Explanation

To peck is to jab or bite at something the way a bird does with its beak. A peck is also a unit of measurement, like when Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (“Eight quarts” just didn’t sound right.) Most birds peck at their food, and when a person eats in a bird-like way, they also peck. Another way to peck is to give someone a light kiss, a peck on the cheek. A completely different kind of peck is a unit of measurement. In the US, a peck is one quarter of a bushel, or two gallons of a dry substance. The verb sense of peck comes from 1500s thieves' slang, in which it meant "food."

Example Sentences

Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, discuss the shocking earnings report and the reasons to doubt it as a sign of future growth, including the internet’s ever-evolving information economy.

From Slate • May 2, 2026

Lindsay is currently reading The Road Less Travelled, by Scott Peck - a book about personal growth in difficult times.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

In the beginning, Peck says it was easy to find trees and hire a mobile sawmill to cut them into planks.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck discuss what this deal says about the private and public markets and try to wrap their heads around the astronomical valuations of OpenAI and SpaceX.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

“This” She steps to the side and points at the bottom of the stairs—at Peck and his wrecked face.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera