Peak

[peek] /pik/

noun
1.
the pointed top of a mountain or ridge.
2.
a mountain with a pointed summit.
3.
the pointed top of anything.
4.
the highest or most important point or level:
the peak of her political career.
5.
the maximum point, degree, or volume of anything:
Oil prices reached their peak last year.
6.
a time of the day or year when traffic, use, demand, etc., is greatest and charges, fares, or the like are at the maximum:
Early evening is the peak on commuter railroads.
7.
the higher fare, charges, etc., during such a period:
If you fly during the Christmas holidays, you’ll have to pay peak.
8.
Physics.

9.
a projecting point:
the peak of a man’s beard.
10.
.
11.
a projecting front piece, or visor, of a cap.
12.
Phonetics. (def 8a).
13.
Nautical.

verb (used without object)
14.
to project in a peak.
15.
to attain a peak of activity, development, popularity, etc.:
The artist peaked in the 1950s.
verb (used with object)
16.
Nautical. to raise the after end of (a yard, gaff, etc.) to or toward an angle above the horizontal.
adjective
17.
Also, on-peak. being at the point of maximum frequency, intensity, use, etc.; busiest or most active:
Hotel rooms are most expensive during the peak travel seasons.
18.
constituting the highest or maximum level, volume, etc.; optimal; prime:
a machine running at peak performance.
[peek] /pik/
verb (used without object)
1.
to become weak, thin, and sickly.
/piːk/
noun
1.
a pointed end, edge, or projection: the peak of a roof
2.
the pointed summit of a mountain
3.
a mountain with a pointed summit
4.
the point of greatest development, strength, etc: the peak of his career
5.

6.
Also called visor. a projecting piece on the front of some caps
7.

8.
(nautical)

verb
9.
(transitive) (nautical) to set (a gaff) or tilt (oars) vertically
10.
to form or reach or cause to form or reach a peak or maximum
adjective
11.
of or relating to a period of highest use or demand, as for watching television, commuting, etc: peak viewing hours, peak time
n.

“pointed top,” 1520s, variant of pike (n.4) “sharp point.” Meaning “top of a mountain” first recorded 1630s, though pike was used in this sense c.1400. Figurative sense is 1784. Meaning “point formed by hair on the forehead” is from 1833. According to OED, The Peak in Derbyshire is older than the word for “mountaintop;” e.g. Old English Peaclond, for the district, Pecsaetan, for the people who settled there, Peaces ærs for Peak Cavern; sometimes said to be a reference to an elf-denizen Peac “Puck.”
v.

1570s, “to rise in a peak,” from peak (n.). Figurative meaning “reach highest point” first recorded 1958. Related: peaked; peaking.