peter
peter Lexical Profile
peter Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To diminish gradually and come to an end (almost always used with 'out').
"The heavy rain finally began to peter out toward late afternoon."
To make a signal for trumps by playing a higher card before a lower card of the same suit (in whist and similar card games).
"When his partner failed to peter, he decided to hold back his remaining trump cards."
• noun
In card games such as whist, an echoing signal made by playing a higher card followed by a lower card of the same suit to ask a partner to lead trumps.
"She signaled with a peter on the second trick to show her partner she was ready for trumps."
A strongbox, safe, or trunk (dated underworld slang).
"The old-time safecracker boasted that he could open any peter in the bank within minutes."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a verb meaning to gradually diminish, "peter" is almost exclusively used in the phrasal verb "peter out."
• Rhymes for peter
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The verb sense originated in 19th-century American mining slang (as "peter out"), meaning for a mineral vein to become exhausted, possibly derived from "saltpeter" (used in explosives) or a play on the biblical name Peter.