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definitions

pea

1
[pee]
See more synonyms for pea on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural peas, (Archaic or British Dialect) pease or peas·en [pee-zuh n] /ˈpi zən/.
  1. the round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.
  2. the plant itself.
  3. the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.
  4. any of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.
  5. something resembling a pea, especially in being small and round.
adjective
  1. pertaining to, growing, containing, or cooked with peas: We cultivated some tomato vines and a pea patch.
  2. small or small and round (usually used in combination).
  3. pea coal.

Origin of pea

1
1275–1325; Middle English; back formation from pease, taken as plural
Also called English pea, garden pea, green pea (for defs 1, 2).
Related formspea·like, adjective

pea

2
[pee]
noun Nautical.
  1. bill3(def 4).

Origin of pea

2
First recorded in 1825–35; perhaps short for peak1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pea

olive, blue-green, stone, pellet, dot, frock, raincoat, overcoat, cloak, jacket, suit, wrap, tuxedo, windbreaker, fir, sap, jade, sage, moss, pine

Examples from the Web for pea

Contemporary Examples of pea

Historical Examples of pea

  • The grandfather sowed a bean under the table, and the grandmother a pea.

    Russian Fairy Tales

    W. R. S. Ralston

  • The week passed by, and the old people saw that the pea had begun to sprout.

    Russian Fairy Tales

    W. R. S. Ralston

  • They watered it regularly, and the pea set to work and grew higher than the izba.

    Russian Fairy Tales

    W. R. S. Ralston

  • Suppose you had a pea on your head, it wouldn't be heavy to carry, would it?

    The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men

    Francis William Rolt-Wheeler

  • However, no wonder, as you had never heard of the thimble and pea game, but I will tell you.

    Lavengro

    George Borrow

British Dictionary definitions for pea

pea

noun
  1. an annual climbing leguminous plant, Pisum sativum, with small white flowers and long green pods containing edible green seeds: cultivated in temperate regions
    1. the seed of this plant, eaten as a vegetable
    2. (as modifier)pea soup
  3. any of several other leguminous plants, such as the sweet pea, chickpea, and cowpea
Derived Formspealike, adjective

Word Origin for pea

C17: from pease (incorrectly assumed to be a plural)
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
Word Origin and History for pea
n.

early or mid-17c., false singular from Middle English pease (plural pesen), which was both single and collective (e.g. wheat, corn) but the "s" sound was mistaken for the plural inflection. From Old English pise (West Saxon), piose (Mercian) "pea," from Late Latin pisa, variant of Latin pisum "pea," from Greek pison "the pea," perhaps of Thracian or Phrygian origin [Klein].

In Southern U.S. and the Caribbean, used of other legumes as well. Pea soup is first recorded 1711 (pease-soup); applied to London fogs since at least 1849. Pea-shooter attested from 1803.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with pea

pea

see like as two peas in a pod.

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