Peak

Pronunciation

• enPR: pÄ“k, IPA: /piːk/
• Rhymes: -iːk
• Homophones: peek, peke, pique

Full definition of peak

Noun

1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
2. The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.
• 2012 October 23, David Leonhardt, "http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/politics/race-for-president-leaves-income-slump-in-shadows.html?_r=1&hp," New York Times (retrieved 24 October 2012)By last year, family income was 8 percent lower than it had been 11 years earlier, at its peak in 2000, according to inflation-adjusted numbers from the Census Bureau.
3. (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.
4. (nautical) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.
5. (nautical) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
6. (nautical) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
7. (mathematics) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.

Synonyms

• apex, pinnacle, top, summit

Derived terms

• peakless
• peaklike
• peakwise

Verb

1. To reach a highest degree or maximum.Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.
2. To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
• HollandThere peaketh up a mighty high mount.

Synonyms

• culminate

Derived terms

• off-peak

Unknown

Verb

1. (intransitive) To become sick or wan.
2. (intransitive) To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
• ShakespeareDwindle, peak, and pine.
3. (intransitive) To pry; to peep slyly.