peak

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Peaked p. pr. & vb. n. Peaking. ] 1. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak. [ 1913 Webster ]

There peaketh up a mighty high mount. Holand. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To achieve a maximum of numerical value, intensity of activity, popularity, or other characteristic, followed by a decline; as, the stock market peaked in January; his performance as a pitcher peaked in 1990; sales of the XTX model peaked at 20, 000 per year. [ PJC ]

3. To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly. “Dwindle, peak, and pine.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. [ Cf. Peek. ] To pry; to peep slyly. [ archaic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Peak arch (Arch.), a pointed or Gothic arch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing. Cf. Pike. ] 1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap. “Run your beard into a peak.” Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, esp. when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Silent upon a peak in Darien. Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) (a) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc. (b) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it. (c) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill. [ In the last sense written also pea and pee. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Fore peak. (Naut.) See under Fore. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. (Naut.) To raise to a position perpendicular, or more nearly so; as, to peak oars, to hold them upright; to peak a gaff or yard, to set it nearer the perpendicular. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pointed; ending in a point; as, a peaked roof. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Oftener pēk"&ebreve_;d) Sickly; not robust. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

a. 1. Mean; sneaking. [ Vulgar ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pining; sickly; peakish. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or relating to a peak; or to peaks; belonging to a mountainous region. “Her peakish spring.” Drayton. “His peakish dialect.” Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having peaks; peaked. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Having features thin or sharp, as from sickness; hence, sickly. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]