*peck*

n. [ Russ. kopeika ] A Russian copper coin. See Kopeck. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small black and white ladder-backed woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) of Central and Eastern U. S. and Canada. It strongly resembles the hairy woodpecker, but is smaller (6 1/2"), compared with about 9-1/2" for the hairy. It is common in suburban backyards. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) The European garden warbler (Sylvia hortensis or Currica, hortensis); -- called also beccafico and greater pettychaps. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A speck or stain made by the excrement of a fly; hence, any insignificant dot. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To soil with flyspecks. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Henpecked p. pr. & vb. n. Henpecking. ] To bother persistently with trivial complaints; to subject to petty authority; -- said of a woman who thus treats her male companion, especially of wives who thus dominate their husbands. Commonly used in the past participle (often adjectively); as, henpecked for years, he finally left her. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Having so marked an appearance as easily to be recognized. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Eng. kopecks, Russ. kopeek. [ Russ. kopeika. ] A small Russian coin, continued as a unit of currency within the Soviet Union. One hundred kopecks make a ruble. The ruble was worth about sixty cents (U. S.) in 1910; in 1991 a two-kopeck coin could be used for a local telephone call at a pay telephone. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1993, the exchange value of the ruble declined rapidly and by the end of 1994 the ruble was worth three hundredths of a cent, and by 1997 two hundredths of a cent. By 1993, the kopek had become of such small value that it was obsolete and no longer minted. [ Written also kopek, copec, and copeck. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The nuthatch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An African bird of the genus Buphaga; the beefeater. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. akin to pack; or, orig., an indefinite quantity, and fr. peck, v. (below): cf. also F. picotin a peak. ] 1. The fourth part of a bushel; a dry measure of eight quarts; as, a peck of wheat. “A peck of provender.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A great deal; a large or excessive quantity. “A peck of uncertainties and doubts.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pecked p. pr. & vb. n. Pecking. ] [ See Pick, v. ] 1. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc., with repeated quick movements. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; -- often with up. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To make strokes with the beak, or with a pointed instrument. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pick up food with the beak; hence, to eat. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The hen ] went pecking by his side. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To peck at, (a) to attack with petty and repeated blows; to carp at; to nag; to tease. (a) to eat slowly and in small portions, with litle interest; as, to peck at one's food. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A quick, sharp stroke, as with the beak of a bird or a pointed instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, pecks; specif., a bird that pecks holes in trees; a woodpecker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An instrument for pecking; a pick. Garth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The penis; -- an obscene term for the male sexual organ. [ Vulgar ]
Syn. -- penis, cock, prick, tool, peter, dick, shaft [ all but the first considered obscene ]. [ PJC ]

Flower pecker. (Zool.) See under Flower. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Inclined to eat; hungry. [ Colloq. ] “When shall I feel peckish again?” Beaconsfield. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Speckled; spotted. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Icel. spik blubber, AS. spic, D. spek, G. speck. ] The blubber of whales or other marine mammals; also, the fat of the hippopotamus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Speck falls (Naut.), falls or ropes rove through blocks for hoisting the blubber and bone of whales on board a whaling vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. spekke, AS. specca; cf. LG. spaak. ] 1. A small discolored place in or on anything, or a small place of a color different from that of the main substance; a spot; a stain; a blemish; as, a speck on paper or loth; specks of decay in fruit. “Gray sand, with black specks.” Anson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A very small thing; a particle; a mite; as, specks of dust; he has not a speck of money. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many bright specks bubble up along the blue Egean. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A small etheostomoid fish (Ulocentra stigmaea) common in the Eastern United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Specked p. pr. & vb. n. Specking. ] To cause the presence of specks upon or in, especially specks regarded as defects or blemishes; to spot; to speckle; as, paper specked by impurities in the water used in its manufacture. [ 1913 Webster ]

Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dim. of speck; cf. D. spikkel. ] A little or spot in or anything, of a different substance or color from that of the thing itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

An huge great serpent, all with speckles pied. Spebser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Speckled p. pr. & vb. n. Speckling ] To mark with small spots of a different color from that of the rest of the surface; to variegate with spots of a different color from the ground or surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Marked or variegated with small spots of a different color from that of the rest of the surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

Speckled Indians (Ethnol.), the Pintos. --
Speckled trout. (Zool.) (a) The common American brook trout. See Trout. (b) The rainbow trout. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The gadwall. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The American white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being speckled. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The chief harpooner, who also directs in cutting up the speck, or blubber; -- so called among whalers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woodpecker. See Speight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A woodpecker. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]