peeper

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
English peep
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-os?
Proto-Indo-European *-o-
Proto-Indo-European *-so-
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós
Proto-Italic *-āsijos
Proto-Italic *-āsios
Latin -āriusnom.
Latin -āriusbor.
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Middle English -ere
▲
Latin -ārius
Old French -ierbor.
Middle English -er
English -er
English peeper

    From peep + -er.

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpiːpə/
    • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpipɚ/
    • Audio (Australia):(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!
      • 1938, Louis Armstrong (and lyrics by Johnny Mercer), Jeepers Creepers
        Jeepers creepers, where'd ya get them peepers?
        Jeepers creepers, where'd ya get those eyes?
      • 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 36:
        The witness stand. Goldminers giving evidence, sure he's violent didn't I see him with my own peepers chasing those poor kids up on the roof.
    2. Someone who peeps; a spy.
      • 1604 (first performance), Tho[mas] Dekker; Iohn Webster [i.e., John Webster], West-ward Hoe. […], London: […] [William Jaggard], and to be sold by Iohn Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
        Who's there? peepers, intelligencers, 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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