Word Direct Answers

What does "peck" mean?

Peck: A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. "A peck of uncertainties and doubts." Milton.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree.
  2. 3.Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements.
  3. 4.To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up. Addison. This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. Shak.
  4. 5.To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree.
  5. 6.To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument. Carew.
  6. 7.To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat. [The hen] went pecking by his side. Dryden. To peck at, to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease.
  7. 8.A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument.

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