peak

pronunciation

How to pronounce peak in British English: UK [piːk] word uk audio image

How to pronounce peak in American English: US [piːk] word us audio image

Noun:

the most extreme possible amount or value
the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
the highest level or degree attainable
the top point of a mountain or hill
a V shape
the highest point (of something)
a brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes
Verb:

to reach the highest point; attain maximum intensity, activity
Adjective:

of a period of maximal use or demand or activity
approaching or constituting a maximum

Word Origin

peak: peak: [16] Peak seems to come ultimately from the noun pick ‘pointed implement’ (as in toothpick). From this in the 15th century was formed an adjective picked ‘pointed’, which survived dialectally into the 19th century (S H A Hervey noted in the Wedmore Chronicle 1887 ‘Children still use ‘picked’ of a pencil with a good point to it’). It had a variant form peaked, from which peak appears to have been derived as a back-formation. The adjective peaky ‘sickly’ [19], incidentally, is not etymologically related. It comes from a now little used verb peak ‘become sickly or pale’ [16], whose origins are unknown.=> pick

peak (n.): "pointed top," 1520s, variant of pike (n.4) "sharp point." Meaning "top of a mountain" first recorded 1630s, though pike was used in this sense c. 1400. Figurative sense is 1784. Meaning "point formed by hair on the forehead" is from 1833. According to OED, The Peak in Derbyshire is older than the word for "mountaintop;" compare Old English Peaclond, for the district, Pecsaetan, for the people who settled there, Peaces ærs for Peak Cavern; sometimes said to be a reference to an elf-denizen Peac "Puck."

peak (v.): 1570s, "to rise in a peak," from peak (n.). Figurative meaning "reach highest point" first recorded 1958. Related: peaked; peaking.

2. Officemax told analysts this summer that its hoped-for return to peak operating margins has to be slowed down .

3. It discloses holiday shipments , but only on the peak day and not for the entire season .

4. Unemployment has fallen sharply from a peak of 8 % in 2009 to around half that today .

5. Pessimistic predictions had that either the peak had already occurred or that it would occur shortly .