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peg

/ˈpɛɡ/noun, verb

peg is spelled P-E-G: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, peg means “A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of peg is pegs.

How many letters and syllables are in peg?

Letters3: P-E-G
Syllables1
In writing3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is peg?

Peg appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 peg?

  • /ˈpɛɡ/
  • [ˈpʰɛɡ]
  • /ˈpeɪ̯ɡ/

Peg has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-peg.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of peg

  • pegs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • pegging participle, present
  • pegged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does peg mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.

  2. 2

    A protrusion used to hang things on.

    Hang your coat on the peg and come in.

  3. 3

    A support; a reason; a pretext.

    a peg to hang a claim upon

  4. 4

    A peg moved on a crib board to keep score.

  5. 5

    A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is matched to the value of another currency or measure such as gold.

  6. 6

    UKA small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage.

  7. 7

    A place formally allotted for fishing

  8. 8

    colloquialdatedA leg or foot.

verb

  1. 1

    To fasten using a peg.

    Let's peg the rug to the floor.

  2. 2

    To affix or pin.

    I found a tack and pegged your picture to the bulletin board.

  3. 3

    To fix a value or price.

    China's currency is no longer pegged to the American dollar.

  4. 4

    To narrow the cuff openings of a pair of pants so that the legs take on a peg shape.

  5. 5

    slangTo throw.

  6. 6

    To throw a ball at (someone), to hit (someone) with a ball.

  7. 7

    slangTo indicate or ascribe an attribute to; to classify or pigeonhole someone.

    He's been pegged as a suspect.

  8. 8

    To move one's pegs to indicate points scored; to score with a peg.

    She pegged twelve points.

noun

as PEG
  1. 1

    Acronym of polyethylene glycol.

  2. 2

    obsoleteAbbreviation of pneumoencephalography

  3. 3

    Initialism of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

  4. 4

    Initialism of price/earnings to growth.

    PEG ratio

  5. 5

    Initialism of public, educational, and government (access television).

  6. 6

    Initialism of parsing expression grammar.

  7. 7

    Abbreviation of pyroelectric generator.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Peg in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcheville (a cylindrical object), porte-manteau, patère (a protrusion used to hang things on), cheviller (to fasten using a peg), épingler (to affix or pin), fixer (to fix a price or value)
GermanHolzdübel, Pflock, Stift, Haltestift, Stöpsel, Zapfen (a cylindrical object)
Portuguesecavilha (a cylindrical object), pregador (a protrusion used to hang things on), cavilhar (to fasten using a peg), cravelha (pin on a musical instrument), prendedor (clothes peg), gancho (an event that triggers news coverage…)
Spanishclavija, tarugo (a cylindrical object), colgador, perchero (a protrusion used to hang things on), fijar (to fix a price or value), pinza (clothes peg)

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 peg come from?

From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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