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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

peak.

A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/piːk/
  1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.

  2. The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.

    The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.
  3. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point.

    They reached the peak after 8 hours of climbing.
  4. The whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated.

  5. visor (horizontal part of a cap sticking out in front and shading the wearer's eyes)

    UK
  6. The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

    peak-halyards
    peak-brails
  7. The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.

  8. The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.

  9. A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.

  10. Orgasm.

    euphemistic
  11. Something of exceptional quality.

    Internet · uncountable
    There's so much peak on this website!
Where this word comes from

From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz (“peak”). Cognate with Dutch piek (“pike, point, summit, peak”), Danish pik (“pike, peak”), Swedish pik (“pike, lance, point, peak”), Norwegian pik (“peak, summit”). More at pike.

verb/piːk/
  1. To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular.

    transitive
  2. To exceed the maximum signal amplitude of (a piece of equipment), resulting in clipping of the signal.

    transitive
  3. To reach a highest degree or maximum.

    intransitive
    Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.
  4. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.

    intransitive
  5. To reach the highest level of success or greatness in one's lifetime.

    intransitive
  6. To reach the point of strongest effect from a drug.

    intransitive
  7. Ellipsis of peak trans.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
Where this word comes from

From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz (“peak”). Cognate with Dutch piek (“pike, point, summit, peak”), Danish pik (“pike, peak”), Swedish pik (“pike, lance, point, peak”), Norwegian pik (“peak, summit”). More at pike.

adj/piːk/
  1. At the greatest extent; maximum.

    peak oil, Peak TV
  2. Maximal, quintessential, archetypical, strictly with positive connotations; representing the culmination of its type.

    slang
    Knowing obscure 19th-century slang is peak nerd.
  3. Bad.

    Multicultural-London-English
  4. Unlucky; unfortunate.

    Multicultural-London-English
    You didn't get a spot? That's peak.
  5. Very good or high-quality.

    Internet
    That movie last night was so peak.
Where this word comes from

From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz (“peak”). Cognate with Dutch piek (“pike, point, summit, peak”), Danish pik (“pike, peak”), Swedish pik (“pike, lance, point, peak”), Norwegian pik (“peak, summit”). More at pike.

verb/piːk/
  1. To become sick or wan.

    intransitive
  2. To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.

    intransitive
  3. To pry; to peep slyly.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Unknown. Perhaps related to Etymology 1 above in the sense of "becoming pointed" through emaciation.

noun/piːk/
  1. Alternative form of peag (“wampum”).

    alt-of · alternative · uncountable
verb/piːk/
  1. Misspelling of pique.

    alt-of · misspelling
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.