peckish
part of speech
adjective (informal, UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ)
meaning for a pupil
(informal) A little bit hungry. tree →
sense in the lessons
An everyday British word: «I'm feeling a bit peckish» means you'd like a snack, not a big meal. It comes from birds pecking at food. In stories it gives a friendly, casual tone.
examples
- I'm a bit peckish; can I have a biscuit? tree →
- Are you peckish? There's fruit in the bowl. tree →
- By eleven o'clock I always feel peckish. tree →
- The cat looks peckish. tree →
- Grandad gets peckish before bed and eats toast. tree →
- If you're peckish after school, have an apple. tree →
note
Informal adjective, mostly British, Irish and Australian English; less common in the USA. It means only a little hungry; «starving» or «ravenous» means very hungry.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «peckish» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.