Dictionary

peeper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpiːpə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈpipɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From peep + -er.

Meanings

1. (colloquial, in-plural) The eye.
   • 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?
   • 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. 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 36:
   • Check out the gorgeous peepers on that guy!
2. Someone who peeps; a spy.
   • 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. 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
   • Who's there? peepers, intelligencers, eavesdroppers? 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):
3. (dated, derogatory, slang) A private detective.
   • So you go to see this peeper, this Marlowe. That was your mistake. 1944, William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman, The Big Sleep (screenplay)
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.

Forms

Deriveds

pixel peeper · pixel-peeper · leaf peeper · spring peeper

Translations (10)

es farol (eye (colloquial)) · ru морга́ла (eye (colloquial)) · it occhio (eye (colloquial)) · bg зъркел (eye (colloquial)) · es clisos (eye (colloquial)) · bg око (eye (colloquial)) · it occhi (eye (colloquial)) · ru морга́ло (eye (colloquial)) · ru гляде́лка (eye (colloquial)) · pl gała (eye (colloquial))