Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Peak \Peak\, n. [OE. pek, AS. peac, perh of Celtic origin; cf.
   Ir. peac a sharp-pointed thing. Cf. {Pike}.]
   1. A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates
      in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap. ``Run your
      beard into a peak.'' --Beau. & Fl.

   2. The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or
      range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or
      mountain, esp. when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.

            Silent upon a peak in Darien.         --Keats.

   3. (Naut.)
      (a) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; --
          used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards,
          peak-brails, etc.
      (b) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within
          it.
      (c) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill. [In the
          last sense written also {pea} and {pee}.]

   {Fore peak}. (Naut.) See under {Fore}.

Fore \Fore\, a. [See {Fore}, adv.]
   Advanced, as compared with something else; toward the front;
   being or coming first, in time, place, order, or importance;
   preceding; anterior; antecedent; earlier; forward; -- opposed
   to {back} or {behind}; as, the fore part of a garment; the
   fore part of the day; the fore and of a wagon.

         The free will of the subject is preserved, while it is
         directed by the fore purpose of the state. --Southey.

   Note: Fore is much used adjectively or in composition.

   {Fore bay}, a reservoir or canal between a mill race and a
      water wheel; the discharging end of a pond or mill race.
      

   {Fore body} (Shipbuilding), the part of a ship forward of the
      largest cross-section, distinguisched from middle body abd
      after body.

   {Fore boot}, a receptacle in the front of a vehicle, for
      stowing baggage, etc.

   {Fore bow}, the pommel of a saddle. --Knight.

   {Fore cabin}, a cabin in the fore part of a ship, usually
      with inferior accommodations.

   {Fore carriage}.
   (a) The forward part of the running gear of a four-wheeled
       vehicle.
   (b) A small carriage at the front end of a plow beam.

   {Fore course} (Naut.), the lowermost sail on the foremost of
      a square-rigged vessel; the foresail. See Illust. under
      {Sail}.

   {Fore door}. Same as {Front door}.

   {Fore edge}, the front edge of a book or folded sheet, etc.
      

   {Fore elder}, an ancestor. [Prov. Eng.]

   {Fore end}.
   (a) The end which precedes; the earlier, or the nearer, part;
       the beginning.

             I have . . . paid More pious debts to heaven, than
             in all The fore end of my time.      --Shak.
   (b) In firearms, the wooden stock under the barrel, forward
       of the trigger guard, or breech frame.

   {Fore girth}, a girth for the fore part (of a horse, etc.); a
      martingale.

   {Fore hammer}, a sledge hammer, working alternately, or in
      time, with the hand hammer.

   {Fore leg}, one of the front legs of a quadruped, or
      multiped, or of a chair, settee, etc.

   {Fore peak} (Naut.), the angle within a ship's bows; the
      portion of the hold which is farthest forward.

   {Fore piece}, a front piece, as the flap in the fore part of
      a sidesaddle, to guard the rider's dress.

   {Fore plane}, a carpenter's plane, in size and use between a
      jack plane and a smoothing plane. --Knight.

   {Fore reading}, previous perusal. [Obs.] --Hales.

   {Fore rent}, in Scotland, rent payable before a crop is
      gathered.

   {Fore sheets} (Naut.), the forward portion of a rowboat; the
      space beyond the front thwart. See {Stern sheets}.

   {Fore shore}.
   (a) A bank in advance of a sea wall, to break the force of
       the surf.
   (b) The seaward projecting, slightly inclined portion of a
       breakwater. --Knight.
   (c) The part of the shore between high and low water marks.
       

   {Fore sight}, that one of the two sights of a gun which is
      near the muzzle.

   {Fore tackle} (Naut.), the tackle on the foremast of a ship.
      

   {Fore topmast}. (Naut.) See {Fore-topmast}, in the
      Vocabulary.

   {Fore wind}, a favorable wind. [Obs.]

            Sailed on smooth seas, by fore winds borne.
                                                  --Sandys.

   {Fore world}, the antediluvian world. [R.] --Southey.