PEER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does peer mean? 

• PEER (noun)
  The noun PEER has 2 senses:

1. a person who is of equal standing with another in a group

2. a nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage

  Familiarity information: PEER used as a noun is rare.

• PEER (verb)
  The verb PEER has 1 sense:

1. look searchingly

  Familiarity information: PEER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PEER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is of equal standing with another in a group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

compeer; equal; match; peer

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

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

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

associate (a person who joins with others in some activity or endeavor)

coeval; contemporary (a person of nearly the same age as another)

gangsta ((Black English) a member of a youth gang)

backup; backup man; fill-in; relief; reliever; stand-in; substitute (someone who takes the place of another (as when things get dangerous or difficult))

replacement; successor (a person who follows next in order)

townsman (a person from the same town as yourself)

Holonyms ("peer" is a member of...):

peer group (contemporaries of the same status)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

Lord; noble; nobleman (a titled peer of the realm)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

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

duke (a British peer of the highest rank)

viscountess (a noblewoman holding the rank of viscount in her own right)

viscount (a British peer who ranks below an earl and above a baron)

peer of the realm (a peer who is entitled to sit in the House of Lords)

marquess (a British peer ranking below a duke and above an earl)

life peer (a British peer whose title lapses at death)

Earl Marshal (an officer of the English peerage who organizes royal processions and other ceremonies)

earl (a British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount)

baron (a British peer of the lowest rank)

Instance hyponyms:

Charles Cornwallis; Cornwallis; First Marquess Cornwallis (commander of the British forces in the American War of Independence; was defeated by American and French troops at Yorktown (1738-1805))

Holonyms ("peer" is a member of...):

baronage; peerage (the peers of a kingdom considered as a group)

• PEER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they peer    ... he / she / it peers   
Past simple: peered   
Past participle: peered   
-ing form: peering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Look searchingly

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

We peered into the back of the shop to see whether a salesman was around

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

look (perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The ropes peer

 Context examples 

I lay upon my face and peered over with the spray spouting up all around me.

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

“Well, what do you want?” she asked sharply, peering at us through the darkness.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He peered into the envelope, held it to the light, but could not trust his eyes, and in trembling haste tore the envelope apart.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Twice he opened his mouth and twice he peered again, as though to assure himself that his eyes had not played him a trick.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he peered over the rail with levelled rifle.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

However, the brain responses of older children with hearing loss were smaller than those of their normally hearing peers.

(Mild-to-moderate hearing loss in children leads to changes in how brain processes sound, University of Cambridge)

The researchers peered into the waters of 29 ancient lakes around the world.

(Ancient lakes: eyes into the past, and the future, National Science Foundation)

A chief rationale for peer review is that rarely is just one person, or one closely working group, able to spot every mistake or weakness in a complicated piece of work.

(Peer Review, NCI Thesaurus)

A lasting connection between a user (or user agent) and a peer, typically a server, usually involving the exchange of many packets between the user's computer and the server.

(Computer Session, NCI Thesaurus)

Fast forward 500 years, and a team of astronomers led by John Bally (University of Colorado, USA) has used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to peer into the heart of this cloud.

(Dramatic Stellar Fireworks of Star Birth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)