Link Centre Dictionary

peg

UK/pɛɡ/ US/ˈpʰɛɡ/ fairly common slang uk
noun (6) verb (4)

noun

1.

a wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface

Synonyms
2.

small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.

Synonyms
3.

informal terms of the leg

  • “fever left him weak on his sticks”
Synonyms
4.

a prosthesis that replaces a missing leg

Synonyms
5.

regulator that can be turned to regulate the pitch of the strings of a stringed instrument

6.

a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

Synonyms

verb

1.

succeed in obtaining a position

  • “He nailed down a spot at Harvard”
Synonyms
2.

pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into into

3.

fasten or secure with a wooden pin

  • “peg a tent”
Synonyms
4.

stabilize (the price of a commodity or an exchange rate) by legislation or market operations

  • “The weak currency was pegged to the US Dollar”

Origin

From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare. (To indicate or ascribe an attribute to): Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list.

Phrases

  • between the pegs
  • bring down a peg
  • clothes peg
  • cobbler's pegs
  • compare Latin cuneus
  • compare Latin cunnus
  • crawling peg
  • knock down a peg
  • level pegging
  • move down a peg
  • mumblety peg
  • peg down

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.