peck at
phrasal verb
pecked at; pecking at; pecks at
: to take small bites of (food)
Her son pecked at his food and said he wasn't hungry.
Examples of peck at in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Guthrie, 53, added that the seagull has even pecked at fingers.
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Brian Anthony Hernandez, People.com, 9 Aug. 2025
But its favorite mood, by far, is one of mild titillation, which arises whenever something slightly out of the ordinary occurs—a ball flies into the crowd, a baffled bird pecks at the service line, a champagne cork enters the field of play—and a burr of chatter rips round the court.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 12 July 2025
To free the turtle, the deer plays dead while the crow mimics pecking at his eye.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
Alessi pecked at Burgess’ methods first highlighting possible documentation sloppiness — a timeline on Burgess’ timeline says Jan. 29-30, not Jan. 28-29 which the timeline actually documents.
—Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 20 May 2025
Drops of rain started pecking at heads and shoulders, then within minutes, lightning was flickering in the skies to the southwest of Bank of America Stadium ahead of Lamar’s big co-headlining show with SZA.
—Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 5 May 2025
One rare example is the Australian magpie, a bird that has been known to swoop down and peck at people, sometimes delivering serious injuries.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025
The ostrich made its way over to the car Johnson was driving, then the bird quickly stuck its head through the window for a peck at Johnson’s arm.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 8 Apr. 2025
First, the crows were taught to peck at a certain shape for a reward.
—Gayoung Lee, Scientific American, 11 Apr. 2025
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Brian Anthony Hernandez, People.com, 9 Aug. 2025
But its favorite mood, by far, is one of mild titillation, which arises whenever something slightly out of the ordinary occurs—a ball flies into the crowd, a baffled bird pecks at the service line, a champagne cork enters the field of play—and a burr of chatter rips round the court.
—Sam Knight, New Yorker, 12 July 2025
To free the turtle, the deer plays dead while the crow mimics pecking at his eye.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
Alessi pecked at Burgess’ methods first highlighting possible documentation sloppiness — a timeline on Burgess’ timeline says Jan. 29-30, not Jan. 28-29 which the timeline actually documents.
—Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 20 May 2025
Drops of rain started pecking at heads and shoulders, then within minutes, lightning was flickering in the skies to the southwest of Bank of America Stadium ahead of Lamar’s big co-headlining show with SZA.
—Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 5 May 2025
One rare example is the Australian magpie, a bird that has been known to swoop down and peck at people, sometimes delivering serious injuries.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 18 May 2025
The ostrich made its way over to the car Johnson was driving, then the bird quickly stuck its head through the window for a peck at Johnson’s arm.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 8 Apr. 2025
First, the crows were taught to peck at a certain shape for a reward.
—Gayoung Lee, Scientific American, 11 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Peck at.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peck%20at. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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