bo-peep

English

Alternative forms

bo peep, bopeep

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.
- 1606, The Tragedy of King Lear by Shakespeare, scene IV
  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.

Synonyms

(children's game): peek-a-boo, peep bo

Derived terms

bo peepers / bo-peepers

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.