peep 
At the sraa' peep of a window 
Belinkin crap in. 
Lambert Linkin (Child's Ballads, III. 101). 
Specifically 3. The slit in the leaf of a rifle- 
sight. 4f. A pip. 
He 's but one peep above a serving-man. 
Middleton, Chaste Maid, i. 2. 
Peep-nicking machine, a gun-tool used to nick or cut 
the peep in the leaf of a rifle-sight. 
peep-bo (pep' bo), . Same as bo-peep. 
peeper 1 (pe'per), n. [(peep 1 + -er 1 .] 1. Some 
little creature which peeps, pipes, or chirps. 
(a) A newly hatched chick. (6) The cricket-frog, Acris 
gryllut, a common species of tree-frog, (c) A young pigeon 
while its beak remains soft and unsuited for eating grain. 
2. All egg-pie. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
peeper 2 (pe'per), M. [< yeep* + -er 1 .] 1. One 
who peeps; a spying or inquisitive person. 
Peepers, intelligencers, eavesdroppers. Webster. 
2. The eye. [Slang.] 
"I smell a spy," replied the other, looking at Nigel. 
"Chalk him across the peepers with your cheery." 
Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xvii. 
peep-eye (pep'I), n. Same as bo-peep. 
The baby . . . made futile efforts to play peep-eye with 
anybody jovially disposed in the crowd. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 79. 
peep-hole (pep ' hoi), n. A hole or crevice 
through which one may peep or look. 
And by the Peep-holes in his Crest 
Is it not virtually contest 
That there his Eyes took distant Aim? 
Prior, Alma, ii. 
peeping-hole (pe'ping-hol), . Same as peep- 
hole. Sir B. i'Estrange. 
Peep-p'-day Boy (pep-o-da' boi). One of a fac- 
tion in northern Ireland about 1784-95. They 
were Protestants, and opposed to a Roman Catholic faction 
called Defenders. They were so named from their visiting 
the houses of their antagonists at break of day in search of 
arms. 
peep-show (pep'sho), n. A small show, con- 
sisting of pictures viewed through an orifice or 
hole fitted with a magnifying lens. 
A peepshow of Mazeppa and Paul Jones the pirate, de- 
scribing the pictures to the boys looking in at the little 
round windows. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, 1. 12. 
peep-sight (pep'sit), n. A plate containing a 
small hole through which the gunner sights, at- 
tached to the breech of a cannon or small arm. 
See cut under gun. 
The sights for match-rifles consist usually of wind-gauge 
foresight, and an elevating Vernier peep-sight affixed to 
the stock of the rifle. W. W. Greener, The Qun, p. 151. 
peepul (pe'pul), n. Same as pipul-tree. 
peepy (pe'pi), a. [< peep% + -yl.] Sleepy ; 
drowsy. [Colloq.] 
peer 1 (per), v. i. [< ME. piren, puren, < LG. 
piren, look closely, a later form (with loss of 
I after p, as in E. pat 1 , patch, etc.) of pUren, 
peer, look narrowly, = Sw. plira = Dan. plire, 
blink: see blear 1 . Withjieerin this sense, from 
ME. piren, is confused peer, "pear, < ME. peren, 
< GF.perer (1),j>arer,pareir, < L. parere, appear 
(ME. also partly by apheresis from aperen, E. 
appear): see appear. Hence also, by variation, 
pry 1 .'] 1. To look narrowly or sharply: com- 
monly implying searching or an effort to see : 
as, to peer into the darkness. 
Athulf was in the ture 
Abute for to pure 
After his comynge, 
gef schup him wolde bringe. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1092. 
Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads. 
SAot.,11. of V.,i. 1. 19. 
I went and peered, and could descry 
No cause for her distressful cry. 
Coleridge, Christabel, 11. 
And I peer into the shadows, 
Till they seem to pass away. 
Bryant, A Lifetime. 
2. To appear; come in sight. 
When daffodils begin to peer, . . . 
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year. 
Skak., W. T.,iv. 3. 1. 
See how his gorget peers above his gown, 
To tell the people in what danger he was. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 2. 
3. To appear; seem. [Bare.] 
Tell me, if this wrinkling brow . 
Peers like the front of Saturn. Keats, Hyperion, i. 
peer 2 (per), n. [Early mod. E. &\sopeare; < ME. 
peer,pere,per, < OF. per, peer, later^mr, F.pair, 
a peer; asadj., equal; <L.pdr, equal: seesaw- 1 , 
par*.] 1. One of the same rank, qualities, en- 
dowments, character, or the like ; an equal ; a 
match. 
A cok hight Chauntecleer, 
In al the lond of crowyng nas his peer. 
Chaucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, 1. 30. 
4358 
I ... found him, as I expected, not the peer of her he 
loved, except in love. 
Margaret Fuller, Woman in the 19th Cent., p. 213. 
2. A companion; a fellow; an associate. 
He all his peers in beauty did surpass. Spenser. 
So I took a whim 
To stray away into these forests drear, 
Alone, without a peer. 
Keats, Endymion, iv. 
3. A nobleman of an especial dignity. Spe- 
cifically (a) In Great Britain and Ireland, a 'holder of 
the title of one of the five degrees of nobility duke, 
marquis, earl, viscount, baron ; also, one of the two Eng- 
lish archbishops, or one of those twenty-four bishops who 
are entitled to sit in the House of Lords. The former 
class are distinguished as lords temporal, the latter as 
lords spiritual. The House of Peers or House of Lords 
consists of (1) all peers of the United Kingdom (corre- 
sponding to peers of England prior to 1707 and peers of 
Great Britain from 1707 to January 1st, 1801) who are of 
full age ; (2) the representative Scottish peers (see peer of 
Scotland), elected for each parliament ; (3) the Irish rep- 
resentative peers (see peer of Ireland), elected for life ; 
and (4) the lords spiritual. Many of the peers of Scotland 
and of Ireland, however, are also peers of England, Great 
Britain, or the United Kingdom, and sit in the House of 
Lords under the titles thus held. (6) In France, formerly 
a chief vassal, and later the lord of a certain territory ; 
during the period from 1814 to 1848, a member of the 
upper house of the legislative assembly. House of 
Peers, the upper house of the British Parliament, usually 
styled the House of Lords. See lord and parliament, 3. 
Peer Of Ireland, a member of the peerage of Ireland. 
Twenty-eight Irish peers are elected members of the 
House of Lords, and are called Irish representative peers. 
Irish peers who do not have seats in the House of Lords 
may be elected members of the House of Commons for 
English or Scottish constituencies. Peer of Scotland, 
a member of the peerage of Scotland. Sixteen Scottish 
peers are elected members of the House of Lords, and 
are called Scottish representative peers. No Scottish peer 
can be elected a member of the House of Commons. 
Peer Of the blood royal, in Great Britain, a member of 
the royal family qualified to sit in the House of Lords. 
Peer of the United Kingdom. See def . 3 (a). -Jeers of 
fees, in laic, vassals or tenants of the same 1< >r< W\ bo are 
obliged to serve and attend him in his courts, being equal 
in function. Spiritual peer, in Great Britain, one of 
the prelates qualified to sit In the House of Lords. Tem- 
poral peer, in Great Britain, one of those peers of the 
rank of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons (in- 
cluding representative peers) who are qualified to sit in 
the House of Lords. 
peer 2 t (per), v. [< ME.^eerai; <peer%, .] I. 
intrans. To play the peer; be a peer or equal; 
take or be of equal rank. 
He wolde haue peerid with god of blis ; 
Now is he in helle moost lootheli page. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 62. 
II. trans. To make equal to or of the same 
rank with. 
Being now peered with the lord-chancellor and the earl 
of Essex. Heylin, Hist. Presbyterians, p. 347. (Latham.) 
peerage (per'aj), n. [< peer? + -age. Cf. par- 
age.~\ 1. The rank or dignity of a peer. 
The peerage differs from nobility strictly so called, in 
which the hereditary privileges, whatever they may con- 
sist in, pass on to all the descendants of the person first 
created or otherwise acknowledged as noble. 
E. A. Freeman, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 468. 
2. The body of peers. 
The hereditary summoning of a large proportion of 
great vassals was a middle course between the very limit- 
ed peerage which in France co-existed with an enormous 
mass of privileged nobility, and the unmanageable, ever- 
varying assembly of the whole mass of feudal tenants as 
prescribed in Magna Carta. It is to this body of select 
hereditary barons, joined with the prelates, that the term 
"peers of the land" properly belongs: an expression which 
occurs first, it is said, in the act by which the Despensers 
were exiled, but which before the middle of the fourteenth 
century had obtained general recognition as descriptive of 
members of the house of lords. Stubbs, Const. Hist, 190. 
3. [cop.] A book containing a detailed histori- 
cal and genealogical account of the peers and 
their connections : as, Burke's "Peerage." 
I ... saw the inevitable, abominable, maniacal, absurd, 
disgusting "Peerage" open on the table, interleaved with 
annotations. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, xxiv. 
peerdomt (per'dum), n. [< peer 2 + -dom.] 
Same as peerage, 1. 
peeress (per'es), . [< peer"* + -ess.'] The con- 
sort of a peer ; a woman ennobled by descent, 
by creation, or by marriage. In Great Britain wo- 
men may in certain cases be peeresses of the realm in 
their own right, as by creation, or as inheritors of baro- 
nies which descend to hsirs general. 
There are instances of countesses, baronesses, and ab- 
besses being summoned to send proxies to council, or to 
furnish their military service, but not to attend parlia- 
ment as peeresses. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 428. 
peerie, n. See peery 2 . 
peerless (per'les), a. [< peer% + -less.] Un- 
equaled ; having no peer or equal ; unmatched. 
But now it is my glory to have loved 
One peerless, without stain. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
=Syn. Matchless, unsurpassed. 
peerlessly (per'les-li), adv. Without a peer or 
equal ; rarely, as one who is peerless. 
peewit 
The gentlewoman is a good, pretty, proud, hard-favour- 
ed thing, marry not so peerlessly to bee doted upon, I must 
confesse. B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 4. 
peerlessness (per'les-nes), n. The state of be- 
ing peerless, or of having no equal. 
peery 1 (per'i), a. [< peer 1 + -y 1 .] 1. Peering; 
sharp-looking; expressive of curiosity or sus- 
picion; inquisitive; curious; prying. 
A queer, shambling, ill-made urchin, . . . with a car- 
roty pate in huge disorder, a freckled, sun-burnt visage, 
with a snub nose, a long chin, and two peery grey eyes 
which had a droll obliquity of vision. 
Scott, Kenilworth, ix. 
From her twisted mouth to her eyes so peery, 
Each queer feature asked a query ; 
A look that said in a silent way, . . . 
" I'd give my ears to know what you say ! " 
Hood, Tale of a Trumpet. 
2f. Knowing; sly. [Old slang.] 
Are you peery, as the cant is? In short, do you know 
what I would be at now? Gibber, Refusal, iii. 
peery 2 (per'i), n.; \>\.peeries(-iz,). [Also peerie; 
origin obscure.] A boys' spinning-top, set in 
motion by the pulling of a string. 
Mony 's the peery and tap I worked for him langsyne. 
Scott, Antiquary, xx. 
peest, n. A Middle English form of peace. 
peesash (pe'sash), . [E. Ind.] The local name 
of a hot dry land-wind of southern India. 
peeshoo (pe'sho), n. [N. Amer. Ind. (?).] The 
Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis. 
peespreh (pe'so-re), n. [Mahratta.] The East 
Indian Tragulus memina. 
peetert, . A variant of peter 1 . 
peeter-mant, n. An obsolete form of peterman. 
peetweet (pet'wet), re. [Imitative. Cf. pewit.] 
The common spotted sandpiper of North 
America, Tringoides macularius. See cut at 
Tringoides. 
peevish (pe'vish), a. [Early mod. E. also pe- 
vish, pievish; < ME. pevisclie, pevisse, pevysse, 
peyvesshe, Sc. pevis, pevess, pevych, pevage; 
prob., with suffix -is/4, < Sc. pew, peu, piie, make 
a plaintive noise, cry : see pue. For the form 
(adj. in -ish 1 from a verb) and its variations, 
cf. lavish.] 1. Querulous; petulant; ill-tem- 
pered; cross; fitful. 
Why, this it is to be a peevish girl ! 
That flies her fortune when it follows her. 
Shak., T. G. of V., v. 2. 49. 
A peevish fellow is one who has some reason in himself 
for being out of humonr. Spectator, No. 438. 
They thought they must have died, they were so bad ; 
Their peevish hearers almost wish they had. 
Cowper, Conversation, 1. 324. 
The sharp and peevish tinkle of the shop-bell made itself 
audible. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, vii. 
2f. Perverse; self-willed; f reward; testy. 
She is peevish, sullen, froward, 
Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty. 
Shak., T. G. of V., iii. 1. B8. 
Pertinax hominum genus, a peevish generation of men. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., iii. 4. 
Presbyterians, of late more turbulent in England, more 
peevish and singularly rigid than any of the Calvinists, 
especially the more sober and learned French, amongst 
whom have appeared many of excellent judgment and 
piety. Evelyn, True Religion, II. 259. 
3. Characterized by or indicating discontent, 
petulaucy, or fretfulness. 
In these peevish Times, which may be called the Rust of 
the Iron Age, there is a Race of cross-grained People who 
are malevolent to all Antiquity. Howell, Letters, iv. 43. 
A firm and somewhat peevish mouth. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vii. 
4f. Childish; silly; foolish; trifling. 
So surely if wecustome ourself to put our trust of cum- 
fort in the delight of these pieuish worldly things. 
Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation, fol. 9. 
I see and sigh (bycause it makes me sadde) 
That peuishe pryde doth al the world possesse. 
Gascoigne, Steele Glas (ed. ArberX p. 54. 
There never was any so peevish to imagine the moone 
either capable of affection or shape of a mistris. 
Lyly, Endymion, i. 1. 
And as if he [God] were indeed arraigned at such a bar, 
every weak and peevish exception shall be cryed up for 
evidence. Stillingfleet, Sermons, I. iii. 
=Syn. Fretful, Pettish, etc. (see petulant), ill-natured, 
testy, irritable, waspish. 
peevishly (pe'vish-li), adv. Iii a peevish man- 
ner; petulantly; fretfully; with discontent. 
Thus we may pass our time : the men 
A thousand ways divert their spleen, 
Whilst we sit peevishly within. 
W. King, Art of Love, xii. 
peevishness (pe'vish-nes), . The quality of 
being peevish; perverseness ; frowardness: 
petulancy; fretfulness; waywardness; capri- 
ciousness. 
peewit, n. See pewit. 
