peɡ n. & v. --n. 1 a a usu. cylindrical
pin or bolt of
wood or
metal,
often tapered at
one end,
and used
for holding esp.
two things
together. b
such a peg attached to a
wall etc. and used for
hanging garments etc.
on. c a peg
driven into the ground and attached to a
rope for holding up a tent. d a bung for stoppering a
cask etc. e
each of
several pegs used to
tighten or
loosen the strings of a
violin etc. f a
small peg,
matchstick, etc.
stuck into holes in a
board for
calculating the scores at
cribbage. 2
Brit. = clothes-peg. 3 Brit. a
measure of spirits or
wine. --v.tr. (pegged, pegging) 1 (usu. foll. by down,
in,
out, etc.)
fix (a thing)
with a peg. 2 Econ. a
stabilize (prices, wages,
exchange rates, etc.). b
prevent the
price of (stock etc.)
from falling or
rising by freely buying or selling at a
given price. 3 mark (the score) with pegs on a cribbage-board. øoff the peg (of clothes) ready-made. peg
away (often foll. by at)
work consistently and esp. for a long
period. peg down
restrict (a
person etc.) to rules, a
commitment, etc. peg-leg 1 an
artificial leg. 2 a person with an artificial leg. peg on = peg away. peg out 1 sl. die. 2
score the
winning point at cribbage. 3
Croquet hit the peg with the ball as the
final stroke in a game. 4 mark the boundaries of (land etc.). a peg to
hang an
idea etc. on a
suitable occasion or
pretext etc. for
it. a
round (or square) peg in a
square (or round)
hole a
misfit.
take a person down a peg or two
humble a person. [ME, prob. of LG or Du. orig.:
cf. MDu. pegge, Du.
dial. peg, LG pigge]
