Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to peck
Participle: pecked
Gerund: pecking
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | peck |
| you | peck |
| he;she;it | pecks |
| we | peck |
| you | peck |
| they | peck |
Perfect
| I | have pecked |
| you | have pecked |
| he;she;it | has pecked |
| we | have pecked |
| you | have pecked |
| they | have pecked |
Past
| I | pecked |
| you | pecked |
| he;she;it | pecked |
| we | pecked |
| you | pecked |
| they | pecked |
Pluperfect
| I | had pecked |
| you | had pecked |
| he;she;it | had pecked |
| we | had pecked |
| you | had pecked |
| they | had pecked |
Future
| I | will peck |
| you | will peck |
| he;she;it | will peck |
| we | will peck |
| you | will peck |
| they | will peck |
Future Perfect
| I | will have pecked |
| you | will have pecked |
| he;she;it | will have pecked |
| we | will have pecked |
| you | will have pecked |
| they | will have pecked |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | peck |
| you | peck |
| he;she;it | peck |
| we | peck |
| you | peck |
| they | peck |
Perfect
| I | have pecked |
| you | have pecked |
| he;she;it | have pecked |
| we | have pecked |
| you | have pecked |
| they | have pecked |
Imperfect
| I | pecked |
| you | pecked |
| he;she;it | pecked |
| we | pecked |
| you | pecked |
| they | pecked |
Pluperfect
| I | had pecked |
| you | had pecked |
| he;she;it | had pecked |
| we | had pecked |
| you | had pecked |
| they | had pecked |
Conditional
Present
| I | would peck |
| you | would peck |
| he;she;it | would peck |
| we | would peck |
| you | would peck |
| they | would peck |
Perfect
| I | would have pecked |
| you | would have pecked |
| he;she;it | would have pecked |
| we | would have pecked |
| you | would have pecked |
| they | would have pecked |
Imperative
| you | peck |
| we | Let's peck |
| you | peck |
Verbs conjugated like 'peck'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'peck'
beck,
deck,
feck,
geck,
keck,
neck,
pack,
peak,
pech,
peek,
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1300, possibly a variant of
picken (see
pick (v.)), or in part from M.L.G.
pekken "to peck with the beak."
Pecker "one who pecks" is from 1697; slang sense of "penis" is from 1902.
Peckerwood (1859) is U.S. Southern black dialectal inversion of
woodpecker (q.v.); in folklore, taken as the type of white folks (1929) and symbolically contrasted with
blackbird. As a behavior among hens,
pecking order (1928) translates Ger.
hackliste (T.J. Schjelderuo-Ebbe, 1922); transf. sense of "human hierarchy based on rank or status" is from 1955.
2. From Middle English pecken, pekken, variant of Middle English piken, picken, pikken (“to pick, use a pointed implement”). More at pick. See: Middle English '
piken'.
Sample Sentences
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The birds pecked at their food.
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The rooster had been known to fly on her shoulder and peck her neck, so that now she carried a stick or took one of the children with her when she went to feed the fowls. [1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:]
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And the Wicked Witch said to the King Crow, "Fly at once to the strangers; peck out their eyes and tear them to pieces." [1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:]
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to peck a hole in a tree
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This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas. [c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:]
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1713 September 14, letter to Joseph Addison, The Guardian, issue 160.
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I HAVE laid a wager, with a friend of mine, about the pigeons that used to peck up the corn which belonged to the ants.
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Occasionally a little band of exploring children with the fictitious optimism of youth pecked among its rank and tangled growth in the affectation of hoping to find blackberries there; […] [1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:]
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He has been pecking away at that project for some time now.
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At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. [1997 June 26, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], chapter 1, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter; 1), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:]