See peter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-. Compare the use of other men’s names as slang terms for the penis, e.g., dick, willy, johnson, John Thomas, etc.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (plural peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Czech translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 4 4 39 37",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Genitalia",
"orig": "en:Genitalia",
"parents": [
"Body parts",
"Reproduction",
"Sex",
"Body",
"Anatomy",
"Life",
"All topics",
"Biology",
"Medicine",
"Nature",
"Fundamental",
"Sciences",
"Healthcare",
"Health"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "peeder"
},
{
"word": "peter pepper"
},
{
"word": "peter puffer"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, Shelby Scates, Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America, page 141:",
"text": "You smile, act polite, shake their hands, then cut off their peters and put them in your pocket.” “Yes, Mr. President,” answered O'Brien.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Michael Robert Gorman, The Empress Is a Man: Stories from the Life of Jose Sarria, page 199:",
"text": "... and you were there, and they acted like you weren't even born yet?' \"I'd say, 'Yes, their memories are as long as their peters.'\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Celia H Miles, Mattie's Girl: An Appalachian Childhood, page 64:",
"text": "“It's to put on their peters when they don't want to make babies,” she said.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The penis."
],
"id": "en-peter-en-noun-JrEPyTmp",
"links": [
[
"penis",
"penis"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) The penis."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pták"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "čurák"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"word": "pippeli"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"word": "kikkeli"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pênis"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "peterman"
}
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Attested from the 18th century. The Canting Academy defines peeter as “A portmantle”; Green’s Dictionary of Slang list a variety of uses for peter – including trunk or portmanteau – in thieves’ cant in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (plural peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1963, Kenneth Ullyett, Crime out of Hand, page 109:",
"text": "It used to be simple to 'crack a peter'. Safe-breaking (blowing or cracking a 'peter') in the past three or four years shows that the expert cracksman knows his job.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Zack Wentz, “Simplicity itself”, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, volume 10, page 161:",
"text": "The forty quid! Gone! ’Ow could she ’ave gotten in there? The peter ain’t broke, no sign of it bein’ bettied, and I the only one w’ the key.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A safe."
],
"id": "en-peter-en-noun-mPD0-h5X",
"links": [
[
"safe",
"safe"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, slang) A safe."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "pete"
}
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1955, Rupert Croft-Cooke, The Verdict of You All, page 82:",
"text": "[…] the ceremony of 'slopping out', breakfast, across to the main library from nine till half-past eleven, back to my peter for the mid-day meal and two hours' break, then the library again till five o'clock when tea was brought round and the cell door locked for the night.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A prison cell."
],
"id": "en-peter-en-noun-YEbN01s~",
"links": [
[
"prison",
"prison"
],
[
"slang",
"slang"
],
[
"prison cell",
"prison cell"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, prison slang) A prison cell."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Green's Dictionary of Slang",
"Richard Head"
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unknown"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pesd-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang",
"2": "obsolete",
"3": "rare"
},
"expansion": "(slang, obsolete, rare)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "2"
},
"expansion": "²",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fr",
"3": "péter",
"t": "to explode; to break wind, fart"
},
"expansion": "French péter (“to explode; to break wind, fart”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang"
},
"expansion": "(slang)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang"
},
"expansion": "(slang)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "pēditum",
"t": "flatus, fart"
},
"expansion": "Latin pēditum (“flatus, fart”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pesd-",
"t": "to break wind softly"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to break wind softly”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "imitative"
},
"expansion": "imitative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "salpeter"
},
"expansion": "Middle English salpeter",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sallepeter, salpetur, salpetyr",
"otherforms": "1"
},
"expansion": "[and other forms]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "salpetre"
},
"expansion": "Old French salpetre",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "salpêtre"
},
"expansion": "French salpêtre",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ML.",
"3": "salpetra"
},
"expansion": "Medieval Latin salpetra",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "sāl petrae",
"lit": "salt of stone"
},
"expansion": "Latin sāl petrae (literally “salt of stone”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nominative"
},
"expansion": "nominative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "vocative"
},
"expansion": "vocative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "plural"
},
"expansion": "plural",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "πέτρᾱ",
"t": "rock formation; stone"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā, “rock formation; stone”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; the following etymologies have been suggested:\n* From peter (“to stop (doing or saying something)”) (slang, obsolete, rare).\n* Since the word was first used in mining contexts, either:\n** from French péter (“to explode; to break wind, fart”) (slang), from pet (“emission of digestive gases from the anus, flatus, fart”) (slang), from Latin pēditum (“flatus, fart”), from pēdō (“to break wind, fart”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to break wind softly”), probably imitative; or\n** from (salt)peter, a variant of saltpetre (“potassium nitrate”) (the key ingredient in gunpowder), from Middle English salpeter, salpetre [and other forms] with the first element influenced by salt, from Old French salpetre (modern French salpêtre), from Medieval Latin salpetra, from Latin sāl petrae (literally “salt of stone”) (as potassium nitrate occurs encrusted on some stones), from sāl (“salt”) + petrae (the nominative or vocative plural of petra (“rock; stone”), from Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā, “rock formation; stone”)).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Mining",
"orig": "en:Mining",
"parents": [
"Industries",
"Business",
"Economics",
"Society",
"Social sciences",
"All topics",
"Sciences",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "8 9 8 39 36",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "9 91",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "9 5 4 44 39",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 3 entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 3 3 45 39",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 90",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 4 4 39 37",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Genitalia",
"orig": "en:Genitalia",
"parents": [
"Body parts",
"Reproduction",
"Sex",
"Body",
"Anatomy",
"Life",
"All topics",
"Biology",
"Medicine",
"Nature",
"Fundamental",
"Sciences",
"Healthcare",
"Health"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "peter out"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1910 T. Lane Carter: Mining in Nicaragua. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Vol. XLI. 1910. Canal Zone Meeting, October, 1910",
"text": "I found a veinlet about 15 in. wide and very rich in gold. Trenching along its outcrop showed that it extended about 100 ft. and then pinched out altogether. A winze sunk on the veinlet showed that it \"petered out\" entirely at 25 or 30 ft."
},
{
"ref": "2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: ‘a necessary corrective’ [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, page R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-20:",
"text": "Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2021, Helen Fisher, Faye, Faraway, page 241:",
"text": "My words petered away.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly followed by out: originally (mining), of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore; now (generally), to diminish to nothing; to dwindle, to trail off."
],
"id": "en-peter-en-verb-Vt~-Xuul",
"links": [
[
"out",
"out#Preposition"
],
[
"mining",
"mining#Noun"
],
[
"vein",
"vein#Noun"
],
[
"ore",
"ore"
],
[
"deplete",
"deplete"
],
[
"diminish",
"diminish"
],
[
"nothing",
"nothing#Noun"
],
[
"dwindle",
"dwindle"
],
[
"trail off",
"trail off"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, originally US) Chiefly followed by out: originally (mining), of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore; now (generally), to diminish to nothing; to dwindle, to trail off."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore",
"word": "ehtyä"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "blue peter",
"t": "play a high card to call for trump"
},
"expansion": "Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”). See further etymology there.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Card games",
"orig": "en:Card games",
"parents": [
"Games",
"Recreation",
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "8 9 8 39 36",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "9 5 4 44 39",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 3 entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "10 3 3 45 39",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 4 4 39 37",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Genitalia",
"orig": "en:Genitalia",
"parents": [
"Body parts",
"Reproduction",
"Sex",
"Body",
"Anatomy",
"Life",
"All topics",
"Biology",
"Medicine",
"Nature",
"Fundamental",
"Sciences",
"Healthcare",
"Health"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one."
],
"id": "en-peter-en-verb-VeImpbXl",
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"blue peter",
"blue peter#English"
],
[
"trump",
"trump"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"extra": "to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one",
"tags": [
"synonym",
"synonym-of"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with homophones",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 3 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"en:Genitalia"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "peeder"
},
{
"word": "peter pepper"
},
{
"word": "peter puffer"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-. Compare the use of other men’s names as slang terms for the penis, e.g., dick, willy, johnson, John Thomas, etc.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (plural peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1997, Shelby Scates, Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America, page 141:",
"text": "You smile, act polite, shake their hands, then cut off their peters and put them in your pocket.” “Yes, Mr. President,” answered O'Brien.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1998, Michael Robert Gorman, The Empress Is a Man: Stories from the Life of Jose Sarria, page 199:",
"text": "... and you were there, and they acted like you weren't even born yet?' \"I'd say, 'Yes, their memories are as long as their peters.'\"",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002, Celia H Miles, Mattie's Girl: An Appalachian Childhood, page 64:",
"text": "“It's to put on their peters when they don't want to make babies,” she said.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The penis."
],
"links": [
[
"penis",
"penis"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(slang) The penis."
],
"tags": [
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pták"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "čurák"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"word": "pippeli"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"word": "kikkeli"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "slang: penis",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pênis"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English clippings",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with homophones",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 3 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
"en:Genitalia"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "peterman"
}
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Attested from the 18th century. The Canting Academy defines peeter as “A portmantle”; Green’s Dictionary of Slang list a variety of uses for peter – including trunk or portmanteau – in thieves’ cant in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (plural peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1963, Kenneth Ullyett, Crime out of Hand, page 109:",
"text": "It used to be simple to 'crack a peter'. Safe-breaking (blowing or cracking a 'peter') in the past three or four years shows that the expert cracksman knows his job.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2013, Zack Wentz, “Simplicity itself”, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, volume 10, page 161:",
"text": "The forty quid! Gone! ’Ow could she ’ave gotten in there? The peter ain’t broke, no sign of it bein’ bettied, and I the only one w’ the key.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A safe."
],
"links": [
[
"safe",
"safe"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, slang) A safe."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "pete"
}
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English prison slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1955, Rupert Croft-Cooke, The Verdict of You All, page 82:",
"text": "[…] the ceremony of 'slopping out', breakfast, across to the main library from nine till half-past eleven, back to my peter for the mid-day meal and two hours' break, then the library again till five o'clock when tea was brought round and the cell door locked for the night.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A prison cell."
],
"links": [
[
"prison",
"prison"
],
[
"slang",
"slang"
],
[
"prison cell",
"prison cell"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, prison slang) A prison cell."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Green's Dictionary of Slang",
"Richard Head"
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English clippings",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pesd-",
"English terms with homophones",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 3 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"en:Genitalia"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "peter out"
}
],
"etymology_number": 3,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unknown"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pesd-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang",
"2": "obsolete",
"3": "rare"
},
"expansion": "(slang, obsolete, rare)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "2"
},
"expansion": "²",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "1"
},
"expansion": "¹",
"name": "sup"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fr",
"3": "péter",
"t": "to explode; to break wind, fart"
},
"expansion": "French péter (“to explode; to break wind, fart”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang"
},
"expansion": "(slang)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "slang"
},
"expansion": "(slang)",
"name": "qualifier"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "pēditum",
"t": "flatus, fart"
},
"expansion": "Latin pēditum (“flatus, fart”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*pesd-",
"t": "to break wind softly"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to break wind softly”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "imitative"
},
"expansion": "imitative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "salpeter"
},
"expansion": "Middle English salpeter",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sallepeter, salpetur, salpetyr",
"otherforms": "1"
},
"expansion": "[and other forms]",
"name": "nb..."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fro",
"3": "salpetre"
},
"expansion": "Old French salpetre",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "salpêtre"
},
"expansion": "French salpêtre",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ML.",
"3": "salpetra"
},
"expansion": "Medieval Latin salpetra",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "la",
"3": "sāl petrae",
"lit": "salt of stone"
},
"expansion": "Latin sāl petrae (literally “salt of stone”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nominative"
},
"expansion": "nominative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "vocative"
},
"expansion": "vocative",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "plural"
},
"expansion": "plural",
"name": "glossary"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "πέτρᾱ",
"t": "rock formation; stone"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā, “rock formation; stone”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; the following etymologies have been suggested:\n* From peter (“to stop (doing or saying something)”) (slang, obsolete, rare).\n* Since the word was first used in mining contexts, either:\n** from French péter (“to explode; to break wind, fart”) (slang), from pet (“emission of digestive gases from the anus, flatus, fart”) (slang), from Latin pēditum (“flatus, fart”), from pēdō (“to break wind, fart”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to break wind softly”), probably imitative; or\n** from (salt)peter, a variant of saltpetre (“potassium nitrate”) (the key ingredient in gunpowder), from Middle English salpeter, salpetre [and other forms] with the first element influenced by salt, from Old French salpetre (modern French salpêtre), from Medieval Latin salpetra, from Latin sāl petrae (literally “salt of stone”) (as potassium nitrate occurs encrusted on some stones), from sāl (“salt”) + petrae (the nominative or vocative plural of petra (“rock; stone”), from Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā, “rock formation; stone”)).",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Mining"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1910 T. Lane Carter: Mining in Nicaragua. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Vol. XLI. 1910. Canal Zone Meeting, October, 1910",
"text": "I found a veinlet about 15 in. wide and very rich in gold. Trenching along its outcrop showed that it extended about 100 ft. and then pinched out altogether. A winze sunk on the veinlet showed that it \"petered out\" entirely at 25 or 30 ft."
},
{
"ref": "2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: ‘a necessary corrective’ [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, page R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review), London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-20:",
"text": "Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2021, Helen Fisher, Faye, Faraway, page 241:",
"text": "My words petered away.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Chiefly followed by out: originally (mining), of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore; now (generally), to diminish to nothing; to dwindle, to trail off."
],
"links": [
[
"out",
"out#Preposition"
],
[
"mining",
"mining#Noun"
],
[
"vein",
"vein#Noun"
],
[
"ore",
"ore"
],
[
"deplete",
"deplete"
],
[
"diminish",
"diminish"
],
[
"nothing",
"nothing#Noun"
],
[
"dwindle",
"dwindle"
],
[
"trail off",
"trail off"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, originally US) Chiefly followed by out: originally (mining), of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore; now (generally), to diminish to nothing; to dwindle, to trail off."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore",
"word": "ehtyä"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English clippings",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English terms with homophones",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 3 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)",
"Rhymes:English/iːtə(ɹ)/2 syllables",
"en:Genitalia"
],
"etymology_number": 4,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "blue peter",
"t": "play a high card to call for trump"
},
"expansion": "Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”)",
"name": "clipping"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”). See further etymology there.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"pe‧ter"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"en:Card games"
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one."
],
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"blue peter",
"blue peter#English"
],
[
"trump",
"trump"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"extra": "to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one",
"tags": [
"synonym",
"synonym-of"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpiːtə/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈpitɚ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-peter.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg/En-au-peter.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/En-au-peter.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-iːtə(ɹ)"
},
{
"homophone": "Peter"
},
{
"homophone": "pita (non-rhotic)"
}
],
"word": "peter"
}
Download raw JSONL data for peter meaning in English (14.8kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.