PEEPING
Noun
peeping (plural peepings)
The action of the verb to peep.
Verb
peeping
present participle of peep
Source: Wiktionary
PEEP
Peep, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Peeped; p. pr. & vb. n. Peeping.] Etym: [Of
imitative origin; cf. OE. pipen, F. piper, pépier, L. pipire, pipare,
pipiare, D. & G. piepen. Senses 2 and 3 perhaps come from a transfer
of sense from the sound which chickens make upon the first breaking
of the shell to the act accompanying it; or perhaps from the
influence of peek, or peak. Cf. Pipe.]
1. To cry, as a chicken hatching or newly hatched; to chirp; to
cheep.
There was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
Is. x. 14.
2. To begin to appear; to look forth from concealment; to make the
first appearance.
When flowers first peeped, and trees did blossoms bear. Dryden.
3. To look cautiously or slyly; to peer, as through a crevice; to
pry.
eep through the blanket of the dark. Shak.
From her cabined loophole peep. Milton.
Peep sight, an adjustable piece, pierced with a small hole to peep
through in aiming, attached to a rifle or other firearm near the
breech.
Peep, n.
1. The cry of a young chicken; a chirp.
2. First outlook or appearance.
Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn. Gray.
3. A sly look; a look as through a crevice, or from a place of
concealment.
To take t' other peep at the stars. Swift.
4. (Zoöl.)
(a) Any small sandpiper, as the least sandpiper (Trigna minutilla).
(b) The European meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis). Peep show, a small
show, or object exhibited, which is viewed through an orifice or a
magnifying glass.
– Peep-o'-day boys, the Irish insurgents of 1784; -- so called from
their visiting the house of the loyal Irish at day break in search of
arms. [Cant]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition