7 N‑COUNT The peak of a cap is the part at the front that sticks out above your eyes.
peaked /piː kt/ ADJ [ADJ n] A peaked cap has a pointed or rounded part that sticks out above your eyes. □ …a man in a blue-grey uniform and peaked cap.
pea k time N‑UNCOUNT [oft at /in N , N n] Programmes which are broadcast at peak time are broadcast when the greatest number of people are watching television or listening to the radio. [mainly BRIT ] □ The news programme goes out four times a week at peak time. in AM, usually use prime time
peal /piː l/ (peals , pealing , pealed )
1 VERB When bells peal , they ring one after another, making a musical sound. □ [V ] Church bells pealed at the stroke of midnight. ● N‑COUNT Peal is also a noun. □ [+ of ] …the great peal of the Abbey bells.
2 N‑COUNT A peal of laughter or thunder consists of a long, loud series of sounds. □ [+ of ] I heard a peal of merry laughter.
pea|nut /piː nʌt/ (peanuts )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl, oft N n] Peanuts are small nuts that grow under the ground. Peanuts are often eaten as a snack, especially roasted and salted. □ …a packet of peanuts. □ Add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil.
2 N‑PLURAL If you say that a sum of money is peanuts , you mean that it is very small. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ The cost was peanuts compared to a new kitchen.
pea |nut bu t|ter N‑UNCOUNT Peanut butter is a brown paste made out of crushed peanuts which you can spread on bread and eat.
pear /peə r / (pears ) N‑COUNT A pear is a sweet, juicy fruit which is narrow near its stalk, and wider and rounded at the bottom. Pears have white flesh and thin green or yellow skin.
pearl /pɜː r l/ (pearls )
1 N‑COUNT A pearl is a hard round object which is shiny and usually creamy-white in colour. Pearls grow inside the shell of an oyster and are used for making expensive jewellery. □ She wore a string of pearls at her throat.
2 → see also mother-of-pearl
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Pearl is used to describe something which looks like a pearl. □ …tiny pearl buttons.
pearly /pɜː r li/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Something that is pearly is pale and shines softly, like a pearl. □ …the pearly light of early morning. ● ADJ Pearly is also a combining form. □ …pearly-pink lipstick.
pea r-shaped
1 ADJ Something that is pear-shaped has a shape like a pear. □ …her pear-shaped diamond earrings.
2 ADJ If someone, especially a woman, is pear-shaped , they are wider around their hips than around the top half of their body.
3 PHRASE If a situation goes pear-shaped , bad things start happening. [INFORMAL ] □ He feared his career had gone a bit pear-shaped.
peas|ant /pe z ə nt/ (peasants ) N‑COUNT [N n] A peasant is a poor person of low social status who works on the land; used of people who live in countries where farming is still a common way of life. □ …the peasants in the Peruvian highlands.
peas|ant|ry /pe z ə ntri/ N‑SING [with sing or pl verb] You can refer to all the peasants in a particular country as the peasantry . □ The Russian peasantry stood on the brink of disappearance.
peat /piː t/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Peat is decaying plant material which is found under the ground in some cool, wet regions. Peat can be added to soil to help plants grow, or can be burnt on fires instead of coal.
peaty /piː ti/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Peaty soil or land contains a large quantity of peat.
peb|ble /pe b ə l/ (pebbles ) N‑COUNT A pebble is a small, smooth, round stone which is found on beaches and at the bottom of rivers.
peb|bly /pe bəli/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] A pebbly beach is covered in pebbles.
pe|can /piː kən, [AM ] p I kɑː n/ (pecans ) N‑COUNT Pecans or pecan nuts are nuts with a thin, smooth shell that grow on trees in the southern United States and central America and that you can eat.
pec|ca|dil|lo /pe kəd I loʊ/ (peccadilloes or peccadillos ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] Peccadilloes are small, unimportant sins or faults. [WRITTEN ] □ People are prepared to be tolerant of extra-marital peccadilloes by public figures.
peck /pe k/ (pecks , pecking , pecked )
1 VERB If a bird pecks at something or pecks something, it moves its beak forward quickly and bites at it. □ [V + at ] It was winter and the sparrows were pecking at whatever they could find. □ [V prep/adv] Chickens pecked in the dust. □ [V n] It pecked his leg. □ [V n prep] They turn on their own kind and peck each other to death. □ [V n with adv] These birds peck off all the red flowers. [Also V ]
2 VERB If you peck someone on the cheek, you give them a quick, light kiss. □ [V n + on ] Elizabeth walked up to him and pecked him on the cheek. □ [V n] She pecked his cheek. ● N‑COUNT Peck is also a noun. □ [+ on ] He gave me a little peck on the cheek.
peck|er /pe kə r / (peckers )
1 PHRASE If you tell someone to keep their pecker up , you are encouraging them to be cheerful in a difficult situation. [BRIT , INFORMAL ]
2 N‑COUNT A man's pecker is his penis. [AM , INFORMAL , RUDE ]
pe ck|ing or|der (pecking orders ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] The pecking order of a group is the way that the positions people have are arranged according to their status or power within the group. □ He knew his place in the pecking order.