What does "peg" mean?
A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.
Peg
/pɛɡ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.
- Grammar: peg is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: pin, amble, amount, anchor.
- Useful contrasts: adhesive, detach, drift.
- Usage evidence: It is difficult to peg the direction of interest deregulation.
How to use "peg"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "peg" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "peg" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "peg" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "peg" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "peg" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "pin" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "peg", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.
- 2 Acronym of polyethylene glycol. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 a wooden pin pushed or driven into a surface wordnet
- 4 A protrusion used to hang things on.
"Hang your coat on the peg and come in."
- 5 Initialism of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing wordnet
- 7 A support; a reason; a pretext. figuratively
"a peg to hang a claim upon"
- 8 Initialism of price/earnings to growth. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
"PEG ratio"
- 9 regulator that can be turned to regulate the pitch of the strings of a stringed instrument wordnet
- 10 A peg moved on a crib board to keep score.
- 11 Initialism of public, educational, and government (access television). abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable
- 12 a prosthesis that replaces a missing leg wordnet
- 13 A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is matched to the value of another currency or measure such as gold.
"The following became obvious quite quickly – the cryptosphere needed a nonvolatile peg."
- 14 Initialism of parsing expression grammar. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism
"This is a form of grammar called a Parsing Expression Grammar (PEG). PEGs use a different form of grammar which can handle most context-free situations and some context-sensitive ones."
- 15 informal terms for the leg wordnet
- 16 A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage. UK
"This over, the club will be visited for a "peg," Anglice drink."
- 17 Abbreviation of pyroelectric generator. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 18 small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc. wordnet
- 19 A place formally allotted for fishing
- 20 A leg or foot. colloquial, dated
""Now I'm cleaned up for thee: tha's no 'casions ter stir a peg all day, but sit and read thy books.""
- 21 One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained.
"O, you are well tuned now! / But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, / As honest as I am."
- 22 A step; a degree.
"to screw papal authority to the highest peg"
- 23 Ellipsis of clothes peg. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 24 A topic of interest, such as an ongoing event or an anniversary, around which various features can be developed.
"[…] all news media keep a supply of features on hand, waiting for a peg to make them topical."
- 25 A stump. slang
"Lindy hit the pegs with five deliveries out of six."
- 26 The penetration during anal sex using a strap-on dildo. slang
"Get your strap-on out and give me a nice peg!"
- 27 A serving of brandy and soda. archaic, slang
"I then ordered a "peg" (brandy-and-soda) to be brought to my tent, and returned to have a smoke before turning in again."
- 28 A serving of any hard spirit, particularly whisky. India
"This is the sort of drinking that Anna Hazare fought to eradicate from Ralegan Siddhi, as Colonel Phatak explained, after I joked about an army man needing his evening peg of whisky before dinner."
- 29 A shilling. UK, obsolete, slang
"The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence."
- 30 An easily recalled image that a person mentally visualizes with something else, in order to remember that other thing. See mnemonic peg system.
"To remember this list of early psychologists, you recall each peg along with its image of an early psychologist that you placed there."
Verb
- 1 To fasten using a peg. transitive
"Let's peg the rug to the floor."
- 2 stabilize (the price of a commodity or an exchange rate) by legislation or market operations wordnet
- 3 To affix or pin. transitive
"I found a tack and pegged your picture to the bulletin board."
- 4 fasten or secure with a wooden pin wordnet
- 5 To fix a value or price. transitive
"China's currency is no longer pegged to the American dollar."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into wordnet
- 7 To narrow the cuff openings of a pair of pants so that the legs take on a peg shape. transitive
- 8 succeed in obtaining a position wordnet
- 9 To throw. slang, transitive
- 10 To throw a ball at (someone), to hit (someone) with a ball. transitive
- 11 To indicate or ascribe an attribute to. slang, transitive
"He's been pegged as a suspect."
- 12 To move one's pegs to indicate points scored; to score with a peg.
"She pegged twelve points."
- 13 To reach or exceed the maximum value on (a scale or gauge). slang, transitive
"We pegged the speedometer across the flats."
- 14 To engage in anal sex by penetrating with a strap-on dildo. slang, transitive
"When you're pegging him and he gets close to orgasm, you'll observe a number of physical signs […]"
- 15 To keep working hard at something; to peg away. intransitive
"For more than the period of his splendid service in India, which the country was not slow to acknowledge, the Volunteers had kept pegging at it, despite all the official obstacles thrown in the way […]"
- 16 To drink alcohol frequently, especially brandy and soda; to tipple. archaic, slang
- 17 To drive (a hackney carriage). UK, obsolete, slang, transitive
"I was pegging a hack when the horse started limping. I got down to see if he'd picked up a stone and he lashed out at me."
Proper Noun
- 1 A female given name.; Diminutive of Margaret. diminutive, form-of
- 2 Clipping of Winnipeg (city), usually preceded by "the". Canada, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang
"I just got back from the Peg."
- 3 A female given name.; Clipping of Peggy. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
Example
"It is difficult to peg the direction of interest deregulation."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "peg"?
Common synonyms include: pin, amble, amount, anchor, anchor, articulate.
How do you use "peg" in a sentence?
It is difficult to peg the direction of interest deregulation.
How do you pronounce "peg"?
Pronounced /pɛɡ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare. (To indicate or ascribe an attribute to): Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list.
Etymology 2
Shortening.