peek
part of speech
verb (peek, peeks, peeked, peeking); noun (a peek)
meaning for a pupil
1) To peek means to look at something quickly or secretly, often when you should not. tree →
2) A peek is a quick, short look. tree →
3) To peek out means to just show a little, like the sun peeking out from behind clouds. tree →
sense in the lessons
In games like hide-and-seek, the counter must not peek. In stories, a character who peeks at presents or answers shows curiosity or cheating. In tests, peeking at someone else's answers is cheating. Phrases: «take a peek», «no peeking», «peek inside», «sneak peek» (a first look at something new), «peek-a-boo» (a game with babies).
examples
- Close your eyes and no peeking! tree →
- I took a peek at my birthday presents. tree →
- The sun peeked out from behind the clouds. tree →
- Don't peek at the answers at the back of the book. tree →
- The baby laughed when we played peek-a-boo. tree →
- The kitten peeked out from under the sofa. tree →
- We got a sneak peek of the new playground. tree →
- She peeked through the keyhole. tree →
note
Homophones (same sound): «peak» (the top of a mountain, or a cap's front) and «pique» (a feeling of annoyance; «pique your interest»). A common mistake is «sneak peak»; the right spelling is «sneak peek». «Peep» is similar.
In the corpora
- Ella in Auckland peeked at her neighbour's spelling test because she hadn't learned the words.
- Two weeks before his birthday, Ethan in Denver found his presents at the top of Mum's wardrobe and peeked.
- Peeking at presents usually spoils the surprise for you, not only for the giver.
- A peek is cheating even if you'd have got most of it right; if everyone peeked, tests would mean nothing.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «peek» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.