Library / English Dictionary

PEG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: pegged    , pegging   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface

Synonyms:

nog; peg

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

pin (a small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "peg"):

golf tee; tee (a short peg put into the ground to hold a golf ball off the ground)

tent peg (a peg driven into the ground to hold a rope supporting a tent)

treenail; trenail; trunnel (a wooden peg that is used to fasten timbers in shipbuilding; water causes the peg to swell and hold the timbers fast)

Derivation:

peg (fasten or secure with a wooden pin)

peg (pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

Synonyms:

oarlock; peg; pin; rowlock; thole; tholepin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

holder (a holding device)

Holonyms ("peg" is a part of...):

dinghy; dory; rowboat (a small boat of shallow draft with cross thwarts for seats and rowlocks for oars with which it is propelled)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Regulator that can be turned to regulate the pitch of the strings of a stringed instrument

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

regulator (any of various controls or devices for regulating or controlling fluid flow, pressure, temperature, etc.)

Holonyms ("peg" is a part of...):

stringed instrument (a musical instrument in which taut strings provide the source of sound)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A prosthesis that replaces a missing leg

Synonyms:

leg; peg; pegleg; wooden leg

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

prosthesis; prosthetic device (corrective consisting of a replacement for a part of the body)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Informal terms for the leg

Example:

fever left him weak on his sticks

Synonyms:

peg; pin; stick

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

leg (a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.

Synonyms:

peg; pin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("peg" is a kind of...):

mark; marker; marking (a distinguishing symbol)

Derivation:

peg (pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stabilize (the price of a commodity or an exchange rate) by legislation or market operations

Example:

The weak currency was pegged to the US Dollar

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "peg" is one way to...):

stabilise; stabilize (make stable and keep from fluctuating or put into an equilibrium)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fasten or secure with a wooden pin

Example:

peg a tent

Synonyms:

peg; peg down

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "peg" is one way to...):

attach (cause to be attached)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Also:

peg down (define clearly)

Derivation:

peg (a wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "peg" is one way to...):

pierce; thrust (penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

peg (a wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface)

peg (small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Succeed in obtaining a position

Example:

He nailed down a spot at Harvard

Synonyms:

nail; nail down; peg

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "peg" is one way to...):

bring home the bacon; come through; deliver the goods; succeed; win (attain success or reach a desired goal)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

A mist dispersed; I saw my life to be forfeit; and fled from the scene of these excesses, at once glorying and trembling, my lust of evil gratified and stimulated, my love of life screwed to the topmost peg.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

At length, struggling to get loose, I had the fortune to break the strings, and wrench out the pegs that fastened my left arm to the ground; for, by lifting it up to my face, I discovered the methods they had taken to bind me, and at the same time with a violent pull, which gave me excessive pain, I a little loosened the strings that tied down my hair on the left side, so that I was just able to turn my head about two inches.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

And Jo blushed at the dreadful 'pegging' which had escaped her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Ten steps with each foot took me along parallel with the wall of the house, and again I marked my spot with a peg.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He fastened it together with wooden pegs and made the four wheels out of short pieces of a big tree trunk.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"Fifteen-two, fifteen-four an' a pair makes six," Matt was pegging up, when there was an outcry and sound of snarling without.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

When the people observed I was quiet, they discharged no more arrows; but, by the noise I heard, I knew their numbers increased; and about four yards from me, over against my right ear, I heard a knocking for above an hour, like that of people at work; when turning my head that way, as well as the pegs and strings would permit me, I saw a stage erected about a foot and a half from the ground, capable of holding four of the inhabitants, with two or three ladders to mount it: from whence one of them, who seemed to be a person of quality, made me a long speech, whereof I understood not one syllable.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Mr. Peggotty uttered no cry, and shed no tear, and moved no more, until he seemed to wake again, all at once, and pulled down his rough coat from its peg in a corner.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“What a providential thing that this young man should press his right thumb against the wall in taking his hat from the peg! Such a very natural action, too, if you come to think of it.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I forgot my bashfulness, and pegged away (no other word will express it) with all my might, tumbling over long words, pronouncing according to inspiration of the minute, and doing my very best.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)