peck

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To strike with the beak or a pointed instrument.
2. v. To make (a hole, for example) by striking repeatedly with the beak or a pointed instrument.
3. v. To grasp and pick up with the beak: The bird pecked insects from the log.
4. v. Informal To kiss briefly and casually.
5. v. To make strokes with the beak or a pointed instrument.
6. v. To eat in small sparing bits; nibble: He pecked at his dinner.
7. v. To criticize repeatedly; carp.
8. n. A stroke or light blow with the beak or a pointed instrument.
9. n. A mark or hole made by such a stroke.
10. n. Informal A light quick kiss.
11. n. A unit of dry volume or capacity in the U.S. Customary System equal to 8 quarts or approximately 537.6 cubic inches.
12. n. A unit of dry volume or capacity in the British Imperial System equal to 8 quarts or approximately 554.8 cubic inches. See Table at measurement.
13. n. A container holding or measuring a peck.
14. n. Informal A large quantity; a lot: a peck of troubles.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To strike with the beak, as a bird; hence, to strike lightly with some sharp-pointed instrument.
2. To pick up or take with the beak.
3. To make or effect by striking with the beak or any pointed instrument: as, to peck a hole in a tree.
4. To make strokes or light blows with the beak or some pointed instrument.
5. To attack repeatedly with petty criticism; carp at.
6. n. A stroke with the beak, or with some sharp-pointed tool.
7. n. Meat victuals; food.
8. n. A quantity; a great deal.
9. n. Specifically The fourth part of a bushel, a dry measure of 8 quarts for grain, pulse, etc. The standard British or imperial peck contains 2 gallons or 554.548 cubic inches. Four pecks make a bushel, and eight bushels a quarter. The old Scotch peck, the fourth part of a firlot, or the sixteenth part of a boll, wheu of wheat, was slightly less than the imperial peck; but when of barley was equal to about 1.456 imperial pecks. (See firlot, boll.) In the United States a peck is the fourth part of a Winchester bushel—that is, equals 537.6 cubic inches.
10. n. A peck-measure.
11. To fall or pitch forward: said in particular of a horse when he touches the ground with his toe first in a stride, instead of stepping on the whole foot.

Wiktionary

1. n. One quarter of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts.
2. n. A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
3. n. A short kiss.
4. v. To strike or pierce with the beak or bill (of a bird) or similar instrument.
5. v. To do something in small, intermittent pieces.
6. v. To type by searching for each key individually.
7. v. rare To type in general.
8. v. To kiss.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The fourth part of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts.
2. n. A great deal; a large or excessive quantity.
3. v. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into.
4. v. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements.
5. v. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up.
6. v. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument.
7. v. To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument.
8. v. To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat.
9. n. A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a British imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 2 gallons
2. v. eat like a bird
3. n. a United States dry measure equal to 8 quarts or 537.605 cubic inches
4. v. eat by pecking at, like a bird
5. n. (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
6. v. hit lightly with a picking motion
7. v. bother persistently with trivial complaints
8. v. kiss lightly