Peck

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

CIDE DICTIONARY

Peck, n. [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.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.  [1913 Webster]

Peck, v. t. [See Pick, v.].

•  To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements.  [1913 Webster]
•  To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up.  Addison.  [1913 Webster]

  "This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas."  [1913 Webster]
•  To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree.  [1913 Webster]

Peck, v. i. 

•  To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument.  Carew.  [1913 Webster]
•  To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat.  [1913 Webster]

  "[The hen] went pecking by his side."  [1913 Webster]

To peck at, (a) to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease. (a) to eat slowly and in small portions, with litle interest; as, to peck at one's food.

Peck, n. 

 A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Peck, v. & n.
--v.tr.
1 strike or bite (something) with a beak.
2 kiss (esp. a person's cheek) hastily or perfunctorily.
3 a make (a hole) by pecking. b (foll. by out, off) remove or pluck out by pecking.
4 colloq. (also absol.) eat (food) listlessly; nibble at.
5 mark with short strokes.
6 (usu. foll. by up, down) break with a pick etc.
--n.
1 a a stroke or bite with a beak. b a mark made by this.
2 a hasty or perfunctory kiss.
3 sl. food.

Idiom

peck at
1 eat (food) listlessly; nibble.
2 carp at; nag.
3 strike (a thing) repeatedly with a beak. pecking (or peck) order a social hierarchy, orig. as observed among hens.

Peck, n.
1 a measure of capacity for dry goods, equal to 2 gallons or
8 quarts.
2 a vessel used to contain this amount.

Idiom

a peck of a large number or amount of (troubles, dirt, etc.).

Etymology

ME f. AF pek, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

Peck

abundance, acres, bags, barrel, barrels, batch, beak, brush, bug, bunt, bushel, buss, carp at, chuck, considerable, copiousness, countlessness, dab, deal, fillip, flick, flip, flirt, flood, fret at, fuss at, gobs, good deal, graze, great deal, hassle, heap, heaps, henpeck, lashings, lip, load, loads, lot, lots, lump, mass, mess, mint, mountain, much, multitude, nag, nibble, nibble at, niggle, nosh, numerousness, ocean, oceans, oodles, osculate, pack, pat, peck at, pester, pick, pick at, pick on, pile, piles, plenitude, plenty, pot, power, profusion, quantities, quantity, quite a little, raft, rafts, rap, scads, sea, sight, slew, slews, smack, smooch, snack, snap, spate, stack, stacks, superabundance, superfluity, tap, tickle, tidy sum, tip, tons, touch, volume, wad, wads, whisk, whole slew, world, worlds, yap at

ROGET THESAURUS

Peck

Greatness

N greatness, magnitude, size, multitude, immensity, enormity, infinity, might, strength, intensity, fullness, importance, great quantity, quantity, deal, power, sight, pot, volume, world, mass, heap, stock, peck, bushel, load, cargo, cartload, wagonload, shipload, flood, spring tide, abundance, principal part, chief part, main part, greater part, major part, best part, essential part, bulk, mass, great, greater, large, considerable, fair, above par, big, huge, Herculean, cyclopean, ample, abundant, full, intense, strong, sound, passing, heavy, plenary, deep, high, signal, at its height, in the zenith, world-wide, widespread, far-famed, extensive, wholesale, many, goodly, noble, precious, mighty, sad, grave, heavy, serious, far gone, arrant, downright, utter, uttermost, crass, gross, arch, profound, intense, consummate, rank, uninitiated, red-hot, desperate, glaring, flagrant, stark staring, thorough-paced, thoroughgoing, roaring, thumping, extraordinary, important, unsurpassed, complete, august, grand, dignified, sublime, majestic, vast, immense, enormous, extreme, inordinate, excessive, extravagant, exorbitant, outrageous, preposterous, unconscionable, swinging, monstrous, overgrown, towering, stupendous, prodigious, astonishing, incredible, marvelous, unlimited, unapproachable, unutterable, indescribable, ineffable, unspeakable, inexpressible, beyond expression, fabulous, undiminished, unabated, unreduced, unrestricted, absolute, positive, stark, decided, unequivocal, essential, perfect, finished, remarkable, of mark, marked, pointed, veriest, noteworthy, renowned, truly, decidedly, unequivocally, purely, absolutely, seriously, essentially, fundamentally, radically, downright, in all conscience, for the most part, in the main, entirely, abundantly, widely, far and wide, greatly, much, muckle, well, indeed, very, very much, a deal, no end of, most, not a little, pretty, pretty well, enough, in a great measure, richly, to a large extent, to a great extent, to a gigantic extent, on a large scale, so, never so, ever so, ever so dole, scrap, shred, tag, splinter, rag, much, by wholesale, mighty, powerfully, with a witness, ultra, in the extreme, extremely, exceedingly, intensely, exquisitely, acutely, indefinitely, immeasurably, beyond compare, beyond comparison, beyond measure, beyond all bounds, incalculably, infinitely, preeminently, superlatively, immoderately, monstrously, preposterously, inordinately, exorbitantly, excessively, enormously, out of all proportion, with a vengeance, particularly, remarkably, singularly, curiously, uncommonly, unusually, peculiarly, notably, signally, strikingly, pointedly, mainly, chiefly, famously, egregiously, prominently, glaringly, emphatically, kat exochin, strangely, wonderfully, amazingly, surprisingly, astonishingly, incredibly, marvelously, awfully, stupendously, peculiarly, furiously, severely, desperately, tremendously, extravagantly, confoundedly, deucedly, devilishly, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, painfully, sadly, grossly, sorely, bitterly, piteously, grievously, miserably, cruelly, woefully, lamentably, shockingly, frightfully, dreadfully, fearfully, terribly, horribly, a maximis ad minima, greatness knows itself, mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed, minimum decet libere cui multum licet, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Multitude

N multitude, numerous, numerosity, numerality, multiplicity, profusion, legion, host, great number, large number, round number, enormous number, a quantity, numbers, array, sight, army, sea, galaxy, scores, peck, bushel, shoal, swarm, draught, bevy, cloud, flock, herd, drove, flight, covey, hive, brood, litter, farrow, fry, nest, crowd, lots, all in the world and his wife, greater number, majority, multiplication, multiple, many, several, sundry, divers, various, not a few, Briarean, a hundred, a thousand, a myriad, a million, a quadrillion, a nonillion, a thousand and one, some ten or a dozen, some forty or fifty, half a dozen, half a hundred, very many, full many, ever so many, numerous, numerose, profuse, in profusion, manifold, multiplied, multitudinous, multiple, multinominal, teeming, populous, peopled, crowded, thick, studded, galore, thick coming, many more, more than one can tell, a world of, no end of, no end to, cum multis aliis, thick as hops, thick as hail, plenty as blackberries, numerous as the stars in the firmament, numerous as the sands on the seashore, numerous as the hairs on the head, and what not, and heaven knows what, endless, their name is 'legion', acervatim, en foule, many- headed multitude, numerous as glittering gems of morning dew, vel prece vel pretio.

Food

VB eat, feed, fare, devour, swallow, take, gulp, bolt, snap, fall to, despatch, dispatch, discuss, take down, get down, gulp down, lay in, tuck in, lick, pick, peck, gormandize, bite, champ, munch, cranch, craunch, crunch, chew, masticate, nibble, gnaw, mumble, live on, feed upon, batten upon, fatten upon, feast upon, browse, graze, crop, regale, carouse, eat heartily, do justice to, play a good knife and fork, banquet, break bread, break one's fast, breakfast, lunch, dine, take tea, sup, drink in, drink up, drink one's fill, quaff, sip, sup, suck, suck up, lap, swig, swill, chugalug, tipple, empty one's glass, drain the cup, toss off, toss one's glass, wash down, crack a bottle, wet one's whistle, purvey.