peckish

adjective (informal, UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ)

«peckish» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Everyday

(informal) A little bit hungry. tree →

In the lessons

An everyday British word: «I'm feeling a bit peckish» means you'd like a snack, not a big meal. It comes from birds pecking at food. In stories it gives a friendly, casual tone.

Examples

I'm a bit peckish; can I have a biscuit? tree →
Are you peckish? There's fruit in the bowl. tree →
By eleven o'clock I always feel peckish. tree →
The cat looks peckish. tree →
Grandad gets peckish before bed and eats toast. tree →
If you're peckish after school, have an apple. tree →

Note

Informal adjective, mostly British, Irish and Australian English; less common in the USA. It means only a little hungry; «starving» or «ravenous» means very hungry.

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «peckish» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«peckish» in the school dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/peckish/