# peak

Pronunciation: US say "PEEK" /piːk/; UK

## Noun

1. The pointed top of a mountain or hill; also, a whole mountain with a pointed top, especially one standing apart from others.
   - Simple: The pointed top of a mountain, or a whole mountain with a pointed top.
   - _The mountain's jagged peak pierced the morning clouds._
   - _Several peaks in the northern range remain unclimbed._
2. The highest point, level, or degree that something reaches, especially the highest value of a quantity within a given period of time.
   - Simple: The highest point, amount, or level that something reaches.
   - _Traffic reaches its peak during the morning commute._
   - _The pandemic's infection peaks differed sharply across regions._
5. The sharp end or top of anything that comes to a point.
   - Simple: The sharp, pointed end or top of something.
   - _Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks._
   - _The peak of the roof was crowned with an iron weathervane._
6. A local maximum of a function: each point where the value rises higher than its immediate neighbors before falling.
   - Simple: The highest point on a wave or curve before it dips back down.
   - _The function reaches a peak wherever its slope changes from positive to negative._
   - _Analysts counted the peaks in the data to estimate the signal's frequency._
8. The stiff, horizontal front part of a cap that projects forward to shade the wearer's eyes. *(UK)*
   - Simple: The stiff front part of a cap that sticks out to shade your eyes.
   - _She tugged the peak of her cap low over her brow._
   - _The school caps had stiff peaks and a small embroidered badge._
10. Something regarded as being of exceptional quality. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Something that is of the very best quality.
   - _Her latest album is pure peak from the first track to the last._
   - _The taco truck by the station is absolute peak, trust me._

## Verb

3. To reach the highest degree or maximum before beginning to decline.
   - Simple: To reach the highest point before going down.
   - _Her athletic career peaked in her early thirties._
   - _Demand tends to peak just before the holidays._
7. To rise or extend into a point, or to take on the shape of a peak.
   - Simple: To rise up into a sharp point.
   - _Beat the egg whites until they peak._
   - _The roof peaks at the center to shed heavy snow._
11. To overload a piece of audio equipment with a signal stronger than it can handle, so that the signal clips.
   - Simple: To overload an audio device with a signal that is too strong, making the sound distort.
   - _The drummer peaked the input channel during the loud chorus._
   - _If you peak the preamp, the whole recording distorts._

## Adjective

4. At the greatest extent or maximum level.
   - Simple: At the highest or greatest level.
   - _Athletes train year-round to reach peak performance._
   - _The plant operates at peak capacity through the summer months._
9. Being the most typical or extreme example of its kind, whether admired or mocked. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Being the most typical or extreme example of something.
   - _Wearing socks with sandals to a backyard barbecue is peak dad behavior._
   - _Fresh garden tomatoes with a pinch of salt are peak summer eating._
13. (Multicultural London English) Bad, unpleasant, or unfortunate; hard to put up with. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English)*
   - Simple: Bad or unlucky. Annoying or hard to deal with.
   - _The burger was peak, cold in the middle and dripping with grease._
   - _That phone's camera is peak; every photo comes out blurry and dark._

## Verb

12. To pry, or to peep at something in a sly, secret way. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To secretly look at or spy on something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) (archaic) To become thin, pale, and sickly-looking, especially with a sharp, hollow face.
- (noun) On a fore-and-aft sail, the corner that is both highest and farthest aft.
- (noun) The narrow part of a ship's bow, or the storage hold within it.
- (noun) The pointed tip at the end of an anchor's fluke, also called the bill.
- (verb) To raise the outer end of a gaff so it stands closer to vertical.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–11, 13** — The word developed from earlier peake, an altered form of pike. That goes back to Old English pīc ("a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle") and further to Proto-West Germanic *pīk and Proto-Germanic *pīkaz ("peak"). Dutch piek, Danish pik, Swedish pik and Norwegian pik are cognates.
**Meaning 12** — No one knows where it comes from. It may be linked to peak in the sense of a point, through the notion of "becoming pointed" as the body wastes away.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/peak (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).