peter
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
-
- Rhymes: -iːtə(r)
Etymology 1 [edit]
US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-.[1]
Noun [edit]
peter (plural peters)
- (hypocoristic slang) The penis.
Translations [edit]
Etymology 2 [edit]
1812, US miners’ slang, Unknown.[1] Various speculative etymologies have been suggested.[2][3][4][5] One suggestion is that it comes from peter being an abbreviation of saltpeter, the key ingredient in gunpowder – when a mine was exhausted, it was “petered”. Other derivations are from St. Peter (from sense of “rock”), or French péter (“to fart”).
Verb [edit]
peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)
- (only used in the phrase peter out) To dwindle; to trail off; to diminish to nothing
Usage notes [edit]
Originally used independently, today only used in the derived phrase peter out.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “peter” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
- ^ “peter out”, The Phrase Finder, Gary Martin.
- ^ ami: origin of “peter out”
- ^ Take Our Word For It #117
- ^ A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Charles Funk, 1948.
