Peer (?), v. i. [imp. & p.p [Peered] (?); p. pr. & vb. n. [Peering].] [OF. parir, pareir equiv. to F. paraitre to appear, L. parere. Cf. [Appear].]

1.

To come in sight; to appear.

[Poetic]

So honor peereth in the meanest habit. Shak.

See how his gorget peers above his gown! B. Jonson.

2. [Perh. a different word; cf. OE. piren, LG. piren. Cf. [Pry] to peep.]

To look narrowly or curiously or intently; to peep; as, the peering day.

Milton.

Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads. Shak.

As if through a dungeon grate he peered. Coleridge.

© [Webster 1913].

Peer, n. [OE. per, OF. per, F. pair, fr. L. par equal. Cf. [Apparel], [Pair], [Par], n., [Umpire].]

1.

One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, etc.; an equal; a match; a mate.

In song he never had his peer. Dryden.

Shall they consort only with their peers? I. Taylor.

2.

A comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate.

He all his peers in beauty did surpass. Spenser.

3.

A nobleman; a member of one of the five degrees of the British nobility, namely, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron; as, a peer of the realm.

A noble peer of mickle trust and power. Milton.

[House of Peers], [The Peers], the British House of Lords. See [Parliament]. -- [Spiritual peers], the bishops and archibishops, or lords spiritual, who sit in the House of Lords.

© [Webster 1913].

Peer v. t.

To make equal in rank.

[R.]

Heylin.

© [Webster 1913].

Peer v. t.

To be, or to assume to be, equal.

[R.]

© [Webster 1913].

peer (definition)