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.
Used to describe an action that will be fully completed or achieved by a specific point in the future.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Perhaps so; but we must hurry or the others will have pecked it to bits."
From The Boy Aviators' Polar Dash or Facing Death in the Antarctic by John Henry Goldfrap