peach

verb

peached; peaching; peaches

transitive verb

: to inform against : betray

intransitive verb

: to turn informer : blab

Did you know?

If you guessed that the origin of this verb peach has something to do with a slightly fuzzy fruit, you are unfortunately incorrect. The fruit peach is an unrelated word that traces back to the Latin phrase malum persicum, literally meaning "Persian fruit." The verb blossomed from Middle English apechen ("to accuse"), itself an offspring of the Anglo-French verbs apecher and empecher, both meaning "to ensnare." Empecher is also an ancestor of the English verb impeach, meaning "to bring an accusation against." Both of these English verbs can be traced back to Latin impedicare, meaning "to shackle the feet," and that word is itself rooted in ped-, pes, meaning "foot."

Word History

Etymology

Middle English pechen, short for apechen to accuse, from Anglo-French apecher, empecher to ensnare — more at impeach

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing peach

• green peach aphid
• lesser peach tree borer
• peach fuzz
• peach leaf curl
• peach tree borer

Rhymes for peach

• beach
• beech
• bleach
• breach
• breech
• each
• keech
• leach
• leech
• meech
• preach
• reach

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Kids Definition

peach

noun

ˈpēch

1

: a sweet juicy fruit with white or yellow flesh, a thin fuzzy skin, and a single seed enclosed in a rough stony covering that is produced by a low spreading Chinese tree related to the plums and cherries and grown in most temperate areas

also : this tree

2

: a moderate yellowish pink