peck
/pɛk/verb, noun
peck is spelled P-E-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, peck means “To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in peck?
| Letters | 4: P-E-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is peck?
Peck appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce peck?
- /pɛk/
Peck has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-peck.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of peck
- pecks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- pecking participle, present
- pecked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does peck mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird).
The birds pecked at their food.
- 2
To form by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument.
to peck a hole in a tree
- 3
To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument, especially with repeated quick movements.
- 4
To seize and pick up with the beak, or as if with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with up.
- 5
To do something in small, intermittent pieces.
He has been pecking away at that project for some time now.
- 6
To type by searching for each key individually.
- 7
rareTo type in general.
- 8
To kiss briefly.
- 9
To throw.
- 10
To lurch forward; especially, of a horse, to stumble after hitting the ground with the toe instead of the flat of the foot.
noun
- 1
An act of striking with a beak.
- 2
A small kiss.
- 3
One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; equal to approximately 9092 cubic centimeters in the imperial system or 8810 cubic centimeters in the U.S. system.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- 4
Similar units in other systems of measure, such as the Roman modius or Chinese dou.
- 5
A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
She figured most children probably ate a peck of dirt before they turned ten.
- 6
Discoloration caused by fungus growth or insects.
an occurrence of peck in rice
- 7
UKobsoleteslangFood.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Peck in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | becqueter , bécoter , bécot, bisou , picotin |
| German | picken , einen flüchtigen Kuss geben, flüchtig küssen , Küsschen, Bussi , Schnabelhieb |
| Portuguese | bicar , beijoca, bitoca, beijinho , bicada |
| Spanish | picotear , bicar , pico , picada |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does peck come from?
From Middle English pecken, pekken, variant of Middle English piken, picken, pikken (“to pick, use a pointed implement”). More at pick.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).