Definition of "peak"

peak¹

/piːk/

noun
plural peaks
1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
  Quotations
  A less risky method is to lift your whisk or beater to check the condition of the peaks of the egg whites; the foam should be just stiff enough to stand up in well-defined, unwavering peaks.
  2002, Joy of Cooking: All About Cookies, page 29
2. The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.
  Quotations
  By last year, family income was 8 percent lower than it had been 11 years earlier, at its peak in 2000, according to inflation-adjusted numbers from the Census Bureau.
  2012 October 23, David Leonhardt, New York Times, retrieved 24 October 2012
3. (geography) The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point.
4. (geography) The whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated.
  Quotations
  To the South we observed a large plain some ten miles wide, with snowy peaks rising on the farther side. In front was a hill projecting into the plain, on which stood a mani wall; and this latter discovery made me feel quite confident that I was on the high road to Lhassa.
  1898, Arnold Henry Savage Landor, chapter 62, in In the Forbidden Land
5. (nautical) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
6. (nautical) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
7. (nautical) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
8. (mathematics) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
verb
third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked
1. (transitive, nautical) To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular.
2. (intransitive)
  1. To reach a highest degree or maximum.
  2. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
    Quotations
    There peaketh up a mightie high mounte.
    1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […]
3. (gender-critical) To cause to adopt gender-critical or trans-exclusionary views (ellipsis of peak trans).
  Quotations
  I came to this via sport but the thing that really peaked me was this.
  2019 August 4, Alison Weir (@WeirAlison), Twitter‎
  My friend peaked me last year, at the GRA [Gender Recognition Act] consultation.
  2019 August 31, MrsMiggins (@MrsMiggins13), Twitter‎
  Solidarity from Spain, @jk_rowling. Thank you for peaking so many people all over the world.
  2021 November 22, DefendingMySisters (@DefendingMy), Twitter‎
adjective
comparative more peak, superlative most peak
1. At the greatest extent; maximum.
2. (slang) Maximal, quintessential, archetypical; representing the culmination of its type.
3. (MLE) Bad.
  Quotations
  When they're tryna get the girl to the crib and she leaves, it's peak / Tryna keep it discreet and she tweets, it's peak / See me rolling with 20 man deep, it's peak / Yo rudeboy, pull up, repeat, it's peak
  2015, “Its Peak”, performed by Tinie Tempah (featuring Stormzy and Bugzy Malone)
  Tempting, but I think it's actually something I need to do. Like, I get what they did was peak, but I have to take some responsibility, you know?
  2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Dom (David Jonsson)
4. (MLE) Unlucky; unfortunate.

peak²

/piːk/

verb
third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked
1. (intransitive) To become sick or wan.
2. (intransitive) To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
  Quotations
  Dwindle, peak, and pine.
  c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii]
3. (intransitive) To pry; to peep slyly.

peak³

/piːk/

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

peak⁴

/piːk/

verb
third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked
1. Misspelling of pique.

Definition of "peak"

peak1

noun

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verb

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adjective

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peak2

verb

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peak3

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peak4

verb

peak¹

peak²

peak³

peak⁴