Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A boy's spinning-top, set in motion by the pulling of a string.
  • Peering; sharp-looking; expressive of curiosity or suspicion; inquisitive; curious; prying.
  • Knowing; sly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Scotland spinning top
  • adjective rare That tends to peer; prying, inquisitive, curious.
  • adjective rare Of or pertaining to peers or the peerage.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

peer +‎ -y

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word peery.

Examples

  • Ai haz a bitt uv an awf-toppik kweschun – peery oddiklolee ai sea sumwun menshun a paij foar cheezepeeps awn teh buk ov fayses – wuud sumwun pweese letz mih noe wich wun itz izz?

    dont worry, if da guy grabs your purse, - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2010

  • We will post reminder nownsemints peery oddically betwixt now and tehn.

    Hmmmm… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

  • Only, on my mind, more than my sight, I fancy, a queer knowledge remained of wet, peery eyes.

    The Ghost Pirates 2007

  • Here the old man, who had been watching with his little peery eyes, pulled the bulky Hector by the skirt, and whispered, “Do not vapour him the huff, it will not pass — let the trout play, he will rise to the hook presently.”

    The Fortunes of Nigel 2004

  • There was this time when we were workin 'on a knot from Urbs. We knew who they was and what they was after, and was peery a while to see what they done and who they talked to.

    Exodus From The Long Sun Wolfe, Gene 1996

  • She acknowleged that his nose was good, but his eyes were small, peery, and too close together, and his head shelved backward like an ape's.

    The Heavenly Twins Madame Sarah Grand

  • Only, on my mind, more than my sight, I fancy, a queer knowledge remained of wet, peery eyes.

    The Ghost Pirates: Chapter 14 1909

  • ` People got so peery, 'complained the great man, ` that ingenious men were put to dreadful shifts.'

    A Book of Scoundrels 1896

  • 'People got so peery,' complained the great man, 'that ingenious men were put to dreadful shifts.'

    A Book of Scoundrels Charles Whibley 1894

  • Here the old man, who had been watching with his little peery eyes, pulled the bulky Hector by the skirt, and whispered, "Do not vapour him the huff, it will not pass -- let the trout play, he will rise to the hook presently."

    The Fortunes of Nigel Walter Scott 1801

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.