4/1/2023 0 Comments Peak vs peek![]() ![]() So, do you mean peak, peek, or pique? Learn the difference and you will no longer entertain people like me who enjoy chortling at misused language. If you’re insulted by something, you might be tempted to leave the room in a fit of pique. More specifically the resentment comes from wounded pride. It’s a feeling of irritation or resentment. If I’m piqued at something, it might be something I resent or find annoying. Pricking and pecking don’t seem to be particularly pleasant experiences. The word means something a little different if it’s intransitive, that is, if it doesn’t take a direct object. And so pique, in this sense, is what we call a transitive verb. Curiosity, interest, and anything else that might be piqued are direct objects. You just had to read this post in order to satisfy it. If you have read this far, then perhaps the two misused words in the title piqued your curiosity. ![]() That may, in turn, come from a Latin word meaning to peck like a woodpecker. It most often serves as a verb, which comes from an Old French word that means to prick. No matter where you stand on environmental issues, you can depend on this: we’ll never come to peek oil! There is no adjective form of peek, however. So the word can be used either as a noun or a verb. If I peek at something, then, I am looking quickly and maybe furtively. If I have no business looking at anything but want to be nosy, I might sneak a peek (not a peak!) Rolling through interesting scenery on a tour bus, I only get a peek at things I’d really like to look at longer. That might help to remember when you need this one.Ī peek is a short look or glance. That’s peak-ed, two syllables, not “peakt” like the other word we’ve just looked at.) It’s a verb I see in the dictionary, but I don’t remember hearing anyone use it or seeing it in anything I’ve read. (Unfortunately, there is another word with the same spelling that means to get sick, especially if it leaves you pale or emaciated. If in any sense you want to convey the concept of a tip or a top, use “peak.” Think of that when deciding which to use. I have put these three words in alphabetical order, so “peak” comes on the tip top. Energy debates can be concerned with something called peak oil, which means that the amount of oil already taken from the ground has reached a maximum if we have indeed reached peak oil, it means we can’t produce any more and eventually, like the mountain top, oil production will have to go down. Something can be in peak condition or achieve peak efficiency. This spelling also works as an adjective. Something peaks when it is formed into a peak (as in the egg whites) or when it reaches a peak in one of the other senses. The same can happen to a racer who fades on the last lap. The losing candidate may have peaked too early. Political candidates can reach a peak of voter acceptance, and if it comes too soon before an election, they might lose to someone else.Īnd so we come to “peak” as a verb. Likewise, vegetables can reach a peak of perfection. Before the stock market fell in 2008, it reached its peak. Metaphorically, a peak can also be the highest level of development or intensity. ![]() When you beat an egg white and lift the egg beater, it should leave peaks. So can a beard, or the roof of a house, or all kinds of things. Then it visibly goes down the other side. You see the mountain going up on one side till it gets to the top. The peak of a mountain, therefore, is the summit. It refers to some kind of tapering or projecting point. Otherwise, they’ll come up with blunders like these: Good writers must know which word is which. All of them can be used as a noun or verb. ![]()
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