peep show

American  

noun

1. a display of objects or pictures viewed through a small opening that is usually fitted with a magnifying lens.

2. a short, usually erotic or titillating film shown in a coin-operated viewing machine equipped with a projector.

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Etymology

Origin of peep show

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Conru acquired, earlier this month, the former home of the famed peep show for $3 million as a “gift to the city,” he said in an interview Friday.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 19, 2023

Will win: “Succession” won the last time it competed, in 2020, and the antics of the rich and scheming Roy family are as engrossing a peep show as ever.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 31, 2022

Another piece of gritty old New York had gone the way of the Automat and the Times Square peep show.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2010

In its early days, it was the preserve of the travelling circus and the peep show and even now – even inside the most sterile, overpriced Multiplex – there remains something faintly illicit about it.

From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2010

I spent my time, therefore, over my peep show and my puppet theatre, and my greatest happiness consisted in collecting bright colored pieces of cloth and silk, which I cut out myself and sewed.

From True Story of My Life by Howitt, Mary (Mary Botham)