1. (of a bird) bite or strike something with the beak
   "the bird pecked at the grain"; "it pecked a hole in the wood"
    
2. Hit lightly with a picking motion
   "The woodpecker pecked the tree trunk in search of insects";
   - pick, beak
    
3. [informal] Kiss lightly
   "He pecked his grandmother on the forehead";
   - smack
    
4. [informal] Eat only small pieces of food at a time
   "The anorexic girl just pecks at her food";
   - pick at, peck at
    
5. Bother persistently with trivial complaints
   "She hen-pecks her husband all day long";
   - nag, hen-peck [informal], henpeck [informal]

1. A bird's bite or striking of something with the beak
   "The woodpecker's peck could be heard throughout the forest"
    
2. [informal] A light kiss
   "She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before leaving"
    
3. (often followed by ‘of’) a large number, amount or extent
   "a peck of letters";
   - batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle [archaic], mountain, muckle, passel [US], pile [informal], plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack [informal], tidy sum, wad, bunch [informal], scad [N. Amer, informal]
    
4. A British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 2 gallons
   "The farmer sold a peck of apples at the market"
    
5. A United States dry measure equal to 8 quarts or 537.605 cubic inches
   "The farmer sold apples by the peck"
    
6. Bite by a bird
   "The parrot gave her finger a playful peck"
    
7. [informal] A quick, light kiss, typically on the cheek
   "She gave him a peck on the cheek before leaving for work"

Derived forms: pecking, pecks, pecked

Type of: bite, British capacity unit, buss [N. Amer, informal], chomp, complain, eat, Imperial capacity unit, kick [informal], kiss, kvetch [N. Amer, informal], large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity, moan, osculate [formal], osculation [formal], plain [archaic], sound off, strike, United States dry unit

Part of: bushel

Encyclopedia: Peck, Michael