peck Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
plenty; great deal; pot; sight; flock; mint; slew; mountain; deal; wad; muckle; pile; lot; mickle; raft; quite a little; passel; hatful; mess; spate; heap; stack; good deal; batch; tidy sum; mass.
- a batch of letters
- a deal of trouble
- a lot of money
- he made a mint on the stock market
- see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos
- it must have cost plenty
- a slew of journalists
- a wad of money
noun a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 2 gallons
noun a United States dry measure equal to 8 quarts or 537.605 cubic inches
verb hit lightly with a picking motion
beak; pick.
verb eat by pecking at, like a bird
pick up.
verb kiss lightly
smack.
verb eat like a bird
pick at; peck at.
- The anorexic girl just picks at her food
verb bother persistently with trivial complaints
nag; hen-peck.
- She nags her husband all day long

Perh. akin to pack; or, orig., an indefinite quantity, and fr. peck, v. (below): cf. also F. picotin a peak.

The fourth part of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; as, a peck of wheat. "A peck of provender." Shak.
A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. "A peck of uncertainties and doubts." Milton.

See Pick, v.

imperfect & past participle Pecked ; present participle & verbal noun Pecking

To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree.
Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements.
To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up. Addison.
This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. Shak.
To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree.

To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument. Carew.
To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat.
[The hen] went pecking by his side. Dryden.