peeper

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English

Etymology

peep +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈpiːpə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈpipɚ/
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːpə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: peep‧er

Noun

peeper (plural peepers)

  1. (colloquial, chiefly in the plural) The eye.
    Check out the gorgeous peepers on that guy!
  2. Someone who peeps; a spy.
    • J. Webster
      Who's there? peepers, […] eavesdroppers?
    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
      If listeners seldom hear good of themselves, it is also true that peepers sometimes see more than they like; and Betty, the cook, as she reached the landing, glancing askance with ominous curiosity, beheld a spectacle, the sight of which nearly bereft her of her senses.
  3. (dated, slang, derogatory) A private detective.
    • 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)
      So you go to see this peeper, this Marlowe. That was your mistake.
  4. A peeping tom.
  5. An animal, such as some frogs, having a shrill, high-pitched call.
  6. (colloquial) A chicken just breaking the shell; a young bird.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

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