Peak definition

pēk
peaked peaking peaks
See word origin
Frequency:
To achieve a maximum of development, value, or intensity.

Sales tend to peak just before the holidays.

verb
12
4
A tapering, projecting point; a pointed extremity.

The peak of a cap; the peak of a roof.

noun
9
4
Part of the hairline coming to a point on the forehead; widow's peak.
noun
7
4
To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
verb
2
1
The highest or utmost point of anything; height; maximum.

The peak of production.

noun
1
0
Advertisement
Maximum.

Peak production.

adjective
1
0
To tilt up, as a spar or oar.
verb
1
0
To come or cause to come to a peak; reach or bring to a high, or the highest, point.
verb
1
0
The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.

The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.

noun
1
0
To become sickly, emaciated, or pale.
verb
2
2
Advertisement
The point of greatest development, value, or intensity.

A novel written at the peak of the writer's career.

noun
1
1
(elec.) The maximum value of a varying quantity during a specified period.
noun
1
1
The definition of a peak is the highest point of something.

An example of a peak is the top of a mountain.

An example of a peak is the most successful time of a person's life.

noun
0
0
(physics) The highest value attained by a varying quantity.

A peak in current.

noun
0
0
The pointed summit of a mountain.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
The mountain itself.
noun
0
0
The point of a beard.
noun
0
0
A widow's peak.
noun
0
0
The narrow portion of a ship's hull at the bow or stern.
noun
0
0
The upper aft corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
The outermost end of a gaff.
noun
0
0
(phonet.) The most sonorous portion of a syllable.
noun
0
0
The crest or summit of a hill or mountain ending in a point.
noun
0
0
A mountain with such a pointed summit.
noun
0
0
The top, after corner of a gaff sail.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
The upper end of the gaff.
noun
0
0
The narrowed part of the hull, forward or aft.
noun
0
0
A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
noun
0
0
(geography) The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.
noun
0
0
(nautical) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
(nautical) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
noun
0
0
(nautical) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
noun
0
0
(mathematics) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
noun
0
0
To reach a highest degree or maximum.

Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.

verb
0
0
(intransitive) To become sick or wan.
verb
0
0
Advertisement
(intransitive) To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
verb
0
0
(intransitive) To pry; to peep slyly.

verb
0
0
Approaching or constituting the maximum.

Working at peak efficiency.

adjective
5
6
(nautical) To raise (a gaff) above the horizontal.
verb
0
1
To bring to a maximum of development, value, or intensity.
verb
0
1
Advertisement
To be formed into a peak or peaks.

Beat the egg whites until they peak.

verb
0
1
To become sickly; waste away; droop.
verb
0
1
A tapering part that projects; pointed end or top, as of a cap, roof, etc.
noun
0
1
(rare) A promontory.
noun
0
1

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
peak
Plural:
peaks

Origin of peak

  • Probably Middle English pike, peke pike5

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Unknown

    From Wiktionary

Peak Sentence Examples

  • The peak was flattened.

  • Nature was at her peak, blending the wild blooms with various shades of green.

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both climbed the peak multiple times and praised it in their writings.

  • At least from the peak, she'd see anything before it got to the fortress, even in the moonlight.

  • He led her through the small encampment toward the mountain and up a smooth walkway to the flattened peak of one ridge.

More sentences

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near peak in the Dictionary