peck

The girl turned away before he could give her a peck on the head.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 19, 2023

Baby birds, for example, will see the red area on the mother's beak and peck at it.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2023

The plover birds that peck the scraps from crocodile teeth without getting eaten — that’s symbiosis, right?

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2023

I’ve got to peck it out with one finger.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2023

I was proud he wasn’t lazy like his own daddy, who spent the summer days on his porch swatting flies and even had him a pet hen to peck up the dead ones.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Back in Beadnell, on the kind of grey blustery day when the rain pecks at your face, the Craster Arms has a steady stream of windbent visitors.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

While some of the pecks are small, he said, “in the most extreme cases, the largest wounds can cover a big portion of the calves’ back and can be one meter long or even bigger.”

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

Every time the feisty bird's beak makes contact with the hard surface — at up to 20 pecks per second — the impact vibrates throughout its head and neck.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2022

Fremaux typically meets all filmmakers and casts on the top of the Palais steps with the standard European greeting of pecks on each cheek.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2021

Well, sisterly pecks on the cheek from Piper, but that didn’t count.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Arkansas pecked out a deal with Arkansas-based Tyson Foods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

But surely some American women can relate to feeling pecked or prodded, and pushed aside when they reach middle age.

From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2024

But it does need to survive being pecked by a bird or chewed by other small animals.

From NewsForKids.net ● Feb. 23, 2024

Each week, they found, about 25% of these decoys had been pecked.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 19, 2023

Then he pecked at the ground while walking in a small circle.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Perhaps the Chargers’ first preseason game — and who plays first, most or not at all during it — will indicate a pecking order.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Barcola has two years left on his contract but is understood to be keen on a move to the Reds and a new challenge after falling down the pecking order at PSG.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

“We keep pecking, pecking, pecking at them, and I start to see light at the end of the tunnel.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Although Rew was named in the England squad for the first Test, Cox moved ahead of him in the pecking order for the second Test and was named in the hosts' XI on Monday.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

He started pouring birdseed over my head, and the birds flew down and started peck peck pecking at me, and...

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth