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bo-peep. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
bo-peep, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
bo-peep in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Noun
bo-peep (countable and uncountable, plural bo-peeps)
- The act of looking out suddenly, as from behind a screen, so as to startle someone (as by children in play), or of looking out and drawing suddenly back, as if frightened.
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :That such a king should play bo-peep, / And go the fools among.
- 1881, Geneva Gazette - Jul 8, 1881, page 2, "Official Paper Of The Village"
- They have not employed spies, nor been voluntary or involuntary witnesses of misdeeds or played "bopeep" through key-holes or from step-ladders through transom windows, upon the privacy of their political adversaries.
- (countable, British Virgin Islands) Any whistling frog.
- (uncountable, Cockney rhyming slang) Sleep.
1976, Ron Barnes, Coronation Cups and Jam Jars, page 164:Well, come on, boys. You've got to push off now. I'm going to read me linen and then get some Bo-Peep.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
act of sudden looking out
Verb
bo-peep (third-person singular simple present bo-peeps, present participle bo-peeping, simple past and past participle bo-peeped)
- (intransitive) To play the game of bo-peep; to peek out suddenly.