Noun

peak (plural peaks)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English nouns#PEAKCategory:English countable nouns#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
   • 2002, Joy of Cooking: All About Cookies, →ISBN, page 29:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

2. The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.

   Synonyms: apex, pinnacle; see also Thesaurus:apex

   The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

   • 2012 October 23, David Leonhardt, New York Times, retrieved 24 October 2012:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

3. (geographyCategory:en:Geography#PEAK) The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point.

   Synonyms: summit, top

   They reached the peak after 8 hours of climbing.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

4. (geographyCategory:en:Geography#PEAK) The whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated.
   • 1898, Arnold Henry Savage Landor, chapter 62, in In the Forbidden Land:

     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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
5. (clothingCategory:en:Headwear#PEAK, UKCategory:British English#PEAK) visor (horizontal part of a cap sticking out in front and shading the wearer's eyes)
6. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#PEAK) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

   peak-halyardsCategory:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

   peak-brailsCategory:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

7. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#PEAK) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
8. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#PEAK) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
9. (mathematicsCategory:en:Mathematics#PEAK) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
10. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PEAK, Internet slangCategory:English internet slang#PEAK) Something of exceptional quality.

    There's so much peak on this website!

Verb

peak (third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English verbs#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#PEAK, nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#PEAK) To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular.
2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#PEAK, signal processingCategory:en:Signal processing#PEAK) To exceed the maximum signal amplitude of (a piece of equipment), resulting in clipping of the signal.
   • 2023 September 22, HarryBlank, “Off Track”, in SCP Foundation‎, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:

     "Dr. Reynders?" Udo prodded.

     "Yes!" the woman shouted, peaking the speakers with a screech. "Of course I am! What the hell else could this be?! Of course I'm seeing double! And hearing double! AND THINKING DOUBLE! AND I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN WITH IT, BUT IT'S GETTING TO BE JUST A LITTLE BIT MUCH!" Her voice grew increasingly hoarse as it grew in volume, finally cracking on the last word.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

3. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#PEAK)
   1. To reach a highest degree or maximum.

      Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

   2. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
      • 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, […], →OCLC:

        There peaketh up a mightie high mounte.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

5. (gender-critical slangCategory:English gender-critical slang#PEAK) Ellipsis of peak transCategory:English ellipses#PEAK.
   • 2019 August 4, Alison Weir (@WeirAlison), Twitter‎:

     I came to this via sport but the thing that really peaked me was this.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

   • 2019 August 31, MrsMiggins (@MrsMiggins13), Twitter‎:

     My friend peaked me last year, at the GRA [Gender Recognition Act] consultation.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

   • 2021 November 22, DefendingMySisters (@DefendingMy), Twitter‎:

     Solidarity from Spain, @jk_rowling. Thank you for peaking so many people all over the world.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:peak.

Adjective

peak (comparative more peak, superlative most peak)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English adjectives#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

1. At the greatest extent; maximum.

   peak oil, Peak TVCategory:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

2. (slangCategory:English slang#PEAK) Maximal, quintessential, archetypical, strictly with positive connotations; representing the culmination of its type.

   Knowing obscure 19th-century slang is peak nerd.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

3. (MLECategory:Multicultural London English#PEAK, datedCategory:English dated terms#PEAK) Bad.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bad

   • 2015, “Its Peak”, performed by Tinie Tempah (featuring Stormzy and Bugzy Malone):

     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

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

   • 2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Dom (David Jonsson):

     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?

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

4. (MLECategory:Multicultural London English#PEAK, datedCategory:English dated terms#PEAK) Unlucky; unfortunate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:unlucky

   You didn't get a spot? That's peak.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

5. (Internet slangCategory:English internet slang#PEAK) Very good or high-quality.

   That movie last night was so peak.Category:English terms with usage examples#PEAK

Verb

peak (third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English verbs#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

1. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#PEAK) To become sick or wan.
2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#PEAK) To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
   • 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, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Dwindle, peak, and pine.

     Category:English terms with quotations#PEAK

3. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#PEAK) To pry; to peep slyly.

References

Noun

peak (uncountable)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English nouns#PEAKCategory:English uncountable nouns#PEAKCategory:English uncountable nouns#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

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

Verb

peak (third-person singular simple present peaks, present participle peaking, simple past and past participle peaked)Category:English lemmas#PEAKCategory:English verbs#PEAKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PEAKCategory:Pages with entries#PEAKCategory:Pages with 2 entries#PEAK

1. Misspelling of piqueCategory:English misspellings#PEAK.