What does "peek" mean?

1. (to look secretly) to look at something quickly and secretly, especially when you are not supposed to. 2. (to be partially visible) to be just barely visible, like something coming out from behind a cloud. 3. (to read memory) to look at a specific piece of information stored in a computer's memory. 4. (a quick look) a quick or secret look at something.

Is it correct to say "He took a peak at the gift."?

No — say "He took a peek at the gift.". Do not confuse 'peek' (a look) with 'peak' (the top of a mountain).

peek

v. · n.

US //ˈpik// UK //pˈiːk// peek

1 to look secretly (v.)
B1 Intermediate Informal

to look at something quickly and secretly, especially when you are not supposed to.

to look surreptitiously or slyly, often through a small opening or from a concealed position.

Example

The children tried to peek through the keyhole to see their presents.

Example

She couldn't resist the urge to peek at the final chapter of the novel while she was only halfway through the book.
- stare
- gaze
Pitfall

He took a peak at the gift.

He took a peek at the gift.

Do not confuse 'peek' (a look) with 'peak' (the top of a mountain).
2 to be partially visible (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

to be just barely visible, like something coming out from behind a cloud.

to be only partially or slightly visible, as if emerging from a hiding place or cover.

Example

The sun began to peek through the clouds after the heavy rain.

Example

A few bright green shoots were starting to peek through the melting snow, signalling the arrival of early spring.
- emerge
- show
- hide
- vanish

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3 to read memory (v.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Archaic Computing

to look at a specific piece of information stored in a computer's memory.

to retrieve a value from a specific memory address, common in early programming languages like BASIC.

Example

The programmer used a command to peek at the data in that memory slot.

Example

In legacy systems, developers would frequently peek and poke memory addresses to manipulate hardware registers directly.
- read
- poke
4 a quick look (n.)
B1 Intermediate Informal

a quick or secret look at something.

a brief or surreptitious glance.

Example

Take a peek inside the box and tell me what you see.

Example

The curator allowed us a sneak peek of the new exhibit before it officially opened to the general public.

Origin

From Middle English *peken, piken, pyken (“to peep”), probably a fusion of Middle English pepen (“to peep”) and keken, kiken (“to keek, look, spy”), equivalent to a blend of peep + keek. Perhaps also possibly a metathetic alteration of Middle English kepen, kipen, kypen (“to keep, look, observe, watch”).