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# peck

«peck» in Mova's school dictionary: **To hit or pick up something with the beak** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (peck, pecks, pecked, pecking); noun (a peck, pecks)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (of a bird) To hit or pick up something with the beak. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m1)

2) Noun: a quick hit with a beak. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m2)

3) Noun: a quick light kiss: a peck on the cheek. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m3)

4) (old measure) A unit of dry volume, a quarter of a bushel, used for grain and fruit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m4)

5) «Peck at your food»: to eat only a little, without hunger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m5)

6) To peck at things can also mean to try many new things briefly, without settling on any one of them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

In science and stories birds peck at seeds and worms; woodpeckers peck holes in trees. In families a peck is a little kiss. In old rhymes («Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers») and old measures, a peck is about 9 litres. «Pecking order» means who is the boss in a group.

### examples

- The hen pecked at the corn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x1)
- A woodpecker pecks holes in tree bark. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x2)
- Mum gave me a peck on the cheek. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x3)
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x4)
- The baby bird pecked its way out of the egg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x5)
- He only pecked at his dinner because he wasn't hungry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x6)
- The oldest chicken is top of the pecking order. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x7)
- Always pecking at new things are the Bandar-log. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/#x8)

### note

Past: pecked. In measure problems: 4 pecks = 1 bushel (US and old UK measures). A «peck» kiss is light and quick.

### In the corpora

- [Owl butterflies have large eye spots on the underside of their wings that may startle birds or draw their pecks away from the body.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/98-the-butterfly-house/10/)
- [Chickens scratch and peck for seeds, worms and insects; they are omnivores and will even eat mice and small frogs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/212-chickens-eggs-pecking-order-and-living-dinosaurs/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «peck» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/peck/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.