peg

[peg]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR peg ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a pin of wood or other material driven or fitted into something, as to fasten parts together, to hang things on, to make fast a rope or string on, to stop a hole, or to mark some point.

Informal. a leg, either real or wooden: still on his pegs at 99.

a notch or degree: to come down a peg.

an occasion, basis, or reason: a peg to hang a grievance on.

Also called pin. Music. a pin of wood or metal in the neck of a stringed instrument that may be turned in its socket to adjust a string's tension.

Informal. a throw, especially in baseball: The peg to the plate was late.

news peg.

Economics. the level at which some price, exchange rate, etc., is set.

British, Indian English. an alcoholic drink, especially a whiskey or brandy and soda.

British. clothespin.

verb (used with object), pegged, peg·ging.

to drive or insert a peg into.

to fasten with or as with pegs.

to mark with pegs.

to strike or pierce with or as with a peg.

to keep (the commodity price, exchange rate, etc.) at a set level, as by manipulation or law.

Informal. to throw (a ball).

Journalism. to base (an article, feature story, etc.) upon; justify by (usually followed by on): The feature on the chief of police was pegged on the riots.

Informal. to identify: to peg someone as a good prospect.

verb (used without object), pegged, peg·ging.

to work or continue persistently or energetically: to peg away at a homework assignment.

Informal. to throw a ball.

Croquet. to strike a peg, as in completing a game.

adjective

Also pegged. tapered toward the bottom of the leg: peg trousers.

Idioms

take down a peg, to reduce the pride or arrogance of; humble: I guess that'll take him down a peg!

Origin of peg

1400–50; late Middle English pegge (noun), peggen (v.) < Middle Dutch

Related formspeg·less, adjectivepeg·like, adjectivere·peg, verb, re·pegged, re·peg·ging.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pegged

fix, tighten, join, secure, pin, clinch, fasten

Examples from the Web for pegged

Contemporary Examples of pegged

Previous studies that include population level estimates have pegged the risks as even higher.
Study Finds People with Guns More At-Risk for Suicide and Homicide
Brandy Zadrozny
January 20, 2014
Elf is pegged as a Christmas movie, but it hardly feels religious.
Elf’s 10th Anniversary: I’m Still Obsessed With This Syrupy Movie
Anna Brand
November 7, 2013
The surge in applicants is pegged to fighting back against American snoops.
Edward Snowden Inspires European Youths to Train as Spies
Barbie Latza Nadeau
July 11, 2013
First, the two state solution, which she pegged to the left.
No Peace With the Palestinians, No Peace Inside the Israeli Coalition
Elisheva Goldberg
June 13, 2013
His segments should be topical, pegged to whatever insane pop-culture news was dominating the water cooler at the moment.
How ‘Billy on the Street’ Host Billy Eichner Hit the Mainstream
Kevin Fallon
February 12, 2013

Historical Examples of pegged

After they had eaten, the Ranger handcuffed his prisoner and pegged him down loosely.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine
It was down-hill and up-hill and across and through; but we pegged along.
Pluck on the Long Trail
Edwin L. Sabin
They let out a yell and closed in, and up the hill at one side I pegged.
Pluck on the Long Trail
Edwin L. Sabin
Prices were pegged and farmers forced to pay taxes in produce.
Greener Than You Think
Ward Moore
The hide is pegged down on the ground, when it is covered with a kind of glue.
The Western World
W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for pegged

peg

noun

a small cylindrical pin or dowel, sometimes slightly tapered, used to join two parts together

a pin pushed or driven into a surface: used to mark scores, define limits, support coats, etc

music any of several pins passing through the head (peg box) of a stringed instrument, which can be turned so as to tune strings wound around themSee also pin (def. 11)

Also called: clothes peg British a split or hinged pin for fastening wet clothes to a line to dryUS and Canadian equivalent: clothespin

informal a person's leg

Northern English dialect a tooth

British a small drink of wine or spirits, esp of brandy or whisky and soda

an opportunity or pretext for doing somethinga peg on which to hang a theory

a mountaineering piton

croquet a post that a player's ball must strike to win the game

angling a fishing station allotted to an angler in a competition, marked by a peg in the ground

informal a level of self-esteem, importance, etc (esp in the phrases bring or take down a peg)

informal See peg leg

off the peg mainly British (of clothes) ready to wear, as opposed to tailor-made

verb pegs, pegging or pegged

(tr) to knock or insert a peg into or pierce with a peg

(tr sometimes foll by down) to secure with pegsto peg a tent

mountaineering to insert or use pitons

(tr) to mark (a score) with pegs, as in some card games

(tr) informal to aim and throw (missiles) at a target

(intr; foll by away, along, etc) mainly British to work steadilyhe pegged away at his job for years

(tr) to stabilize (the price of a commodity, an exchange rate, etc) by legislation or market operations

Word Origin for peg

C15: from Low Germanic pegge

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 pegged

peg

mid-15c., from Middle Dutch pegge "peg," a common Low German word (cf. Low German pigge "peg," German Pegel "gauge rod, watermark," Middle Dutch pegel "little knob used as a mark," Dutch peil "gauge, watermark, standard"), of uncertain origin; perhaps from PIE *bak- "staff used as support" (see bacillus). To be a square peg in a round hole "be inappropriate for one's situation" is attested from 1836; to take someone down a peg is from 1580s, but the original literal sense is uncertain (most of the likely candidates are not attested until centuries later). Peg leg "wooden leg" attested from 1765.

peg

"fasten with or as if on a peg," 1590s, from peg (n.). Slang sense of "identify, classify" first recorded 1920. Related: Pegged; pegging.

Idioms and Phrases with pegged

peg

In addition to the idiom beginning with peg

peg away at

also see:

square peg in a round hole
take down a notch (peg)