peak

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

peak, n. [OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing. Cf. Pike.].

•  A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.  Beau. & Fl.  [1913 Webster]
•  The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, esp. when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.  [1913 Webster]

  "Silent upon a peak in Darien."  [1913 Webster]
•  The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.  [1913 Webster]

Fore peak. (Naut.) See under Fore.

peak, v. i. 

•  To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.  [1913 Webster]

  "There peaketh up a mighty high mount."  [1913 Webster]
•  To achieve a maximum of numerical value, intensity of activity, popularity, or other characteristic, followed by a decline; as, the stock market peaked in January; his performance as a pitcher peaked in 1990; sales of the XTX model peaked at 20,000 per year.  [PJC]
•  To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To pry; to peep slyly.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Peak arch (Arch.), a pointed or Gothic arch.

peak, v. t. 

 To raise to a position perpendicular, or more nearly so; as, to peak oars, to hold them upright; to peak a gaff or yard, to set it nearer the perpendicular.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

peak, n. & v.
--n.
1 a projecting usu. pointed part, esp.: a the pointed top of a mountain. b a mountain with a peak. c a stiff brim at the front of a cap. d a pointed beard. e the narrow part of a ship's hold at the bow or stern (forepeak; after-peak). f Naut. the upper outer corner of a sail extended by a gaff.
2 a the highest point in a curve (on the peak of the wave). b the time of greatest success (in a career etc.). c the highest point on a graph etc.
--v.intr. reach the highest value, quality, etc. (output peaked in September).

Idiom

peak hour the time of the most intense traffic etc. peak-load the maximum of electric power demand etc.

Derivative

peaked adj. peaky adj. peakiness n.

peak, v.intr.
1 waste away.
2 (as peaked adj.) sharp-featured; pinched.

Etymology

16th c.: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

peak

acme, acme of perfection, all, allophone, alp, alveolar, apex, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, apogee, articulation, aspiration, assimilation, be poised, bilabial, bill, billow, boom, bore, bottoming out, break, breakers, brim, brow, business cycle, business fluctuations, bust, cacuminal, cap, capstone, ceiling, cerebral, check, chop, choppiness, chopping sea, climax, cloud nine, cog, comb, comber, consonant, consummate, consummation, continuant, cooling off, crag, crash, crest, crisis, crown, culmen, culminate, culmination, dash, decline, dental, depression, diphthong, dirty water, dissimilation, downturn, droop, dwindle, eagre, ebb and flow, economic cycle, economic expansion, economic growth, edge, elevation, eminence, end, epenthetic vowel, expanding economy, expansion, explosive, extreme, extreme limit, extremity, fade, fail, fang, flag, frost, glide, glottal, glottalization, gravity wave, ground swell, growth, guttural, harrow, head, heave, heaven, heavens, heavy sea, heavy swell, height, high growth rate, high noon, high point, highest degree, highest pitch, highest point, hill, hilltop, ice, jag, knoll, labial, labialization, labiodental, labiovelar, languish, laryngeal, last word, lateral, lift, limit, lingual, liquid, lofty peak, lop, lose strength, low, manner of articulation, market expansion, maximum, meridian, modification, monophthong, morphophoneme, mount, mountain, mountaintop, mute, nasal, ne plus ultra, nib, no place higher, noon, nth degree, occlusive, outtop, overarch, overtop, palatal, parasitic vowel, peaking, pecten, perfection, pharyngeal, pharyngealization, phone, phoneme, pic, pico, pike, pine, pink, pink of perfection, pinnacle, pitch, plosive, point, pole, popple, precipice, projection, prosperity, prothetic vowel, rake, ratchet, recession, recovery, retroflex, ridge, riffle, ripple, rise, rise and fall, roll, roller, roof, rough water, run down, sawtooth, scend, sea, segmental phoneme, semivowel, send, seventh heaven, sink, sky, slowdown, slump, smash, snag, snaggle, sonant, sonority, speech sound, spire, sprocket, spur, steeple, stop, summit, surd, surf, surge, surmount, swell, syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable, the whole, tidal bore, tidal wave, tide wave, tip, tip-top, tooth, top, top off, top out, tor, toss, transition sound, triphthong, trough, tsunami, ultimate, undulate, undulation, upmost, upper extremity, uppermost, upturn, utmost, utmost extent, uttermost, velar, vertex, very top, visor, vocable, vocalic, vocoid, voice, voiced sound, voiceless sound, voicing, vowel, waste, waste away, water wave, wave, wavelet, weaken, white horses, whitecaps, wilt, wither, wither away, zenith

ROGET THESAURUS

peak

Disease

VB V, be ill, ail, suffer, labor under, be affected with, complain of, have, droop, flag, languish, halt, sicken, peak, pine, gasp, keep one's bed, feign sickness, lay by, lay up, take a disease, catch a disease, catch an infection, break out.

Height

N height, altitude, elevation, eminence, pitch, loftiness, sublimity, tallness, stature, procerity, prominence, colossus, giant, grenadier, giraffe, camelopard, mount, mountain, hill alto, butte, monticle, fell, knap, cape, headland, foreland, promontory, ridge, hog's back, dune, rising ground, vantage ground, down, moor, moorland, Alp, uplands, highlands, heights, knob, loma, pena, picacho, tump, knoll, hummock, hillock, barrow, mound, mole, steeps, bluff, cliff, craig, tor, peak, pike, clough, escarpment, edge, ledge, brae, dizzy height, tower, pillar, column, obelisk, monument, steeple, spire, minaret, campanile, turret, dome, cupola, skyscraper, pole, pikestaff, maypole, flagstaff, top mast, topgallant mast, ceiling, high water, high tide, flood tide, spring tide, altimetry, batophobia, satellite, spy-in-the-sky, high, elevated, eminent, exalted, lofty, tall, gigantic, Patagonian, towering, beetling, soaring, hanging (gardens), elevated, upper, highest, high reaching, insessorial, perching, upland, moorland, hilly, knobby, mountainous, alpine, subalpine, heaven kissing, cloudtopt, cloudcapt, cloudtouching, aerial, overhanging, incumbent, overlying, superincumbent, supernatant, superimposed, prominent, tall as a maypole, tall as a poplar, tall as a steeple, lanky, on high, high up, aloft, up, above, aloof, overhead, airwind, upstairs, abovestairs, in the clouds, on tiptoe, on stilts, on the shoulders of, over head and ears, breast high, over, upwards, from top to bottom, e meglio cader dalle finistre che dal tetto.

Summit

N summit, summity, top, peak, vertex, apex, zenith, pinnacle, acme, culmination, meridian, utmost height, ne plus utra, height, pitch, maximum, climax, culminating point, crowning point, turning point, turn of the tide, fountain head, water shed, water parting, sky, pole, tip, tip top, crest, crow's nest, cap, truck, nib, end, crown, brow, head, nob, noddle, pate, capsheaf, high places, heights, topgallant mast, sky scraper, quarter deck, hurricane deck, architrave, frieze, cornice, coping stone, zoophorus, capital, epistyle, sconce, pediment, entablature, tympanum, ceiling, attic, loft, garret, house top, upper story, summit conference, summit, peak of achievement, peak of performance, peaks and troughs, peaks and valleys (in graphs), highest &c (high), top, top most, upper most, tiptop, culminating, meridian, meridional, capital, head, polar, supreme, supernal, topgallant, atop, at the top of the tree, en flute, fleur deau.