What does "peat" mean?
Peat: A small person; a pet; -- sometimes used contemptuously. [Obs.] Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.A substance of vegetable origin, consisting of roots and fibers, moss, etc., in various stages of decomposition, and found, as a kind of turf or bog, usually in low situations, where it is always more or less saturated with water. It is often dried and used for fuel. Peat bog, a bog containing peat; also, peat as it occurs in such places; peat moss. -- Peat moss. (a) The plants which, when decomposed, become peat. (b) A fen producing peat. (c) (Bot.) Moss of the genus Sphagnum, which often grows abundantly in boggy or peaty places. -- Peat reek, the reek or smoke of peat; hence, also, the peculiar flavor given to whisky by being distilled with peat as fuel. [Scot.]
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00