peg
noun/ˈpɛɡ/ · [ˈpʰɛɡ]
Etymology
From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare. (To indicate or ascribe an attribute to): Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list.
18 senses
- 1A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or…
- 2A protrusion used to hang things on.
- 3A support; a reason; a pretext.
- 4A peg moved on a crib board to keep score.
- 5A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is…
- 6A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage.
- 7A place formally allotted for fishing
- 8A leg or foot.
- 9One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the…
- 10A step; a degree.
- 11Ellipsis of clothes peg.
- 12A topic of interest, such as an ongoing event or an…
- 13A stump.
- 14The penetration during anal sex using a strap-on dildo.
- 15A serving of brandy and soda.
- 16A serving of any hard spirit, particularly whisky.
- 17A shilling.
- 18An easily recalled image that a person mentally…
A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.
A protrusion used to hang things on.
- Hang your coat on the peg and come in.
Figuratively A support; a reason; a pretext.
- a peg to hang a claim upon
A peg moved on a crib board to keep score.
Business, Finance A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is matched to the value of another currency or measure such as gold.
- The following became obvious quite quickly – the cryptosphere needed a nonvolatile peg.2022, Simon Dingle, Steven Boykey Sidley, chapter 7, in Beyond Bitcoin, Icon Books, →ISBN:
UK A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage.
- This over, the club will be visited for a "peg," Anglice drink.1898, unknown author, Harper's Magazine:
- The name had come to mean any aromatic essence of herbs by the time the first thirsty colonial poured a peg of Who-shot-John into his mint water.1953, S. S. Field, The American drink book, page 65:
A place formally allotted for fishing
Colloquial, Dated A leg or foot.
- "Now I'm cleaned up for thee: tha's no 'casions ter stir a peg all day, but sit and read thy books."1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 2, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained.
- O, you are well tuned now! / But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, / As honest as I am.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- Did we form ourselves, choosing, and our powers? I find myself, for one, as a stringed instrument with chords and stops - but I have no power to turn the pegs, or pitch my thoughts to a higher or lower key.1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in The Last Man. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
A step; a degree.
- to screw papal authority to the highest pega. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number)”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
- We still have worsted all your holy tricks; / Trepann'd your party with intrigue, / And took your grandees down a peg[…]1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of clothes peg.
Journalism, Media A topic of interest, such as an ongoing event or an anniversary, around which various features can be developed.
- […] all news media keep a supply of features on hand, waiting for a peg to make them topical.2004, Herbert J. Gans, Deciding What's News:
- Journalists and prospective sources wishing to attract their attention are constantly on the lookout for pegs. The process by which a peg is identified is informed by news values.2010, Barbie Zelizer, Stuart Allan, Keywords in News and Journalism Studies, page 111:
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Slang A stump.
- Lindy hit the pegs with five deliveries out of six.1961, Colin McCool, Cricket is a Game, page 123:
Slang The penetration during anal sex using a strap-on dildo.
- Get your strap-on out and give me a nice peg!
- I then ordered a "peg" (brandy-and-soda) to be brought to my tent, and returned to have a smoke before turning in again.1894, Arthur Travers Crawford, Reminiscences of an Indian Police Official, page 183:
India A serving of any hard spirit, particularly whisky.
- This is the sort of drinking that Anna Hazare fought to eradicate from Ralegan Siddhi, as Colonel Phatak explained, after I joked about an army man needing his evening peg of whisky before dinner.2008 September 2, Daniel Lak, India Express: The Future of the New Superpower, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:
- The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence.1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:
Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences An easily recalled image that a person mentally visualizes with something else, in order to remember that other thing. See mnemonic peg system.
- To remember this list of early psychologists, you recall each peg along with its image of an early psychologist that you placed there.2013, Rod Plotnik, Haig Kouyoumdjian, Introduction to Psychology:
- Multiple items can be stored at each location or with each peg.2023, W. Scott Terry, Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, page 168:
- Derived terms
46 terms
between the pegs, bring down a peg, clothes peg, clothespeg, cobbler's pegs, crawling peg, footpeg, gim-peg, hatpeg, knock down a peg, move down a peg, mumblety peg, nose peg, pail, peg-a-lantern, peg-and-socket joint, pegboard, pegbox, peg boy, peg dope, peg element, peg-fiched, peg float, peghead, peg house, peg in the ring, peg ladder, peg-leg, pegless, peglet, peglike, pegroots, peg-strip, peg tankard, pegtop, peg-tops, peg warmer, pull someone down a peg, puzzle-peg, screw peg, shoepeg, square peg in a round hole, take down a peg, tent peg, tuning peg, turtle peg