Peak or peek?
peak is a noun meaning “A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the…”; peek is a verb meaning “To look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep”. Use peak as a noun and peek as a verb (peek is also a noun: “A quick glance or look”). They sound the same (/piːk/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) peak is about 6.8 times as common as peek.
What is the difference between peak and peek?
| peak | peek | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb, adjective | verb, noun |
| Meaning | A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular | informalTo look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep informalTo be only slightly, partially visible, as if peering out from a hiding place informalA quick glance or look |
| Example | The stock market reached a peak in September 1929 | Close your eyes, and no peeking! |
| Forms | peaks | peeks, peeking, peeked |
| Pronunciation | /piːk/ | /piːk/ |
| In writing | 34 times per million words | 5.0 times per million words |
Sources: peak and peek in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of peak and peek
peak
- 1
A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap
- 2
To raise the point of (a gaff) closer to perpendicular
- 3
At the greatest extent; maximum
peak oil, Peak TV
- 4
To become sick or wan
- 5
Alternative form of peag (“wampum”)
- 6
The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period
The stock market reached a peak in September 1929
- 7
To exceed the maximum signal amplitude of (a piece of equipment), resulting in clipping of the signal
- 8
slangMaximal, quintessential, archetypical, strictly with positive connotations; representing the culmination of its type
Knowing obscure 19th-century slang is peak nerd
peek
- 1
informalTo look slyly, or with the eyes half closed, or through a crevice; to peep
Close your eyes, and no peeking!
- 2
informalA quick glance or look
- 3
Acronym of polyetheretherketone
- 4
informalTo be only slightly, partially visible, as if peering out from a hiding place
- 5
informalTo briefly move out of cover (to gather visual information)
Sniper watching the site; don't peek
- 6
informalTo take a look at; to check out
Peek my new shoes
- 7
datedinformalTo retrieve (a value) from a memory address
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, peak or peek?
peak appears 34 times per million words; peek 5.0 times per million words.
peak 34 times per million wordspeek 5.0 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search peak vs peek?
“peak vs peek” is searched about 18,100 times a month on Google and 290 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“peek vs peak”, “peak or peek”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.