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pekoe

American  
[pee-koh] / ˈpi koʊ /

noun

  1. a superior kind of black tea from Sri Lanka, India, and Java, made from leaves coarser than those used for orange pekoe.

pekoe British  
/ ˈpiːkəʊ /

noun

  1. a high-quality tea made from the downy tips of the young buds of the tea plant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of pekoe

1705–15; < dialectal Chinese (Xiamen) pek-ho, akin to Chinese báu white + hòu empress

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The chain’s sweet tea is said to be a "refreshing blend of orange pekoe and pekoe cut black tea," which can range between 90 and 220 calories.

From Fox News • Oct. 20, 2021

Sit for 90 minutes, have a cup of orange pekoe and feel satisfied.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2013

There is leaf size to consider too: the term orange pekoe, for instance, has nothing to do with oranges but denotes whether the leaf is a bud or the tip of a bud.

From Time Magazine Archive

She lifted her glass and wondered whether Levy Pants was beginning to reek a little of used pekoe.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Among black teas are bohea, congou, souchong, and pekoe; among green, hyson, imperial, and gunpowder.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.