peach

peach — noun

1. a soft, juicy fruit with yellow or pale flesh, red-yellow skin covered with fine

1.nounB1
Definition

a soft, juicy fruit with yellow or pale flesh, red-yellow skin covered with fine hairs, and one large stone inside

Example

Leo bit into a peach while waiting for the bus home.

eat a peach

Three peaches sat in a bowl beside the open window.

plural: peaches

Common collocations
  • ripe peach
  • fresh peaches
  • peach juice
  • peach yogurt
  • peach jam
Synonyms
  • nectarine

    a very similar fruit, but its skin is smooth rather than fuzzy

  • apricot

    smaller and usually less juicy than a peach

  • fruit

    a broad category word; a peach is one kind of fruit

Grammar Patterns

eat a peach

ripe peaches

slice peach over yogurt

Usage Note

Countable when you mean one fruit or several fruits. Often uncountable when you mean the fruit as an ingredient or flavor, as in peach yogurt or peach jam.

Common Mistakes

I bought two peachs at the market.
I bought two peaches at the market.
The plural form is peaches.
She added a peach to the yogurt flavor.
She added peach to the yogurt flavor.
Use the uncountable form for an ingredient or flavor.

2. used for a person or thing you find unusually kind, attractive, or pleasing

2.nounC1
Definition

used for a person or thing you find unusually kind, attractive, or pleasing

Example

Mrs. Chen drove us home in the rain; she was a peach.

be a peach

That little cafe was a peach after our long walk.

Common collocations
  • be a peach
  • a real peach
  • peach of a neighbor
  • peach of a place
Synonyms
  • gem

    informal and often used for a very good person or thing

  • darling

    usually used for a lovable person rather than an object

  • delight

    slightly broader and can sound less colloquial

Antonyms
  • pain

    informal for a person or thing that causes trouble

Grammar Patterns

be a peach

what a peach of a + noun

Usage Note

Usually used in informal speech for praise, often after be. Distinguish from noun/1: this sense talks about a person or thing being delightful, not the fruit.

Common Mistakes

My new bike is peach.
My new bike is a peach.
In this figurative sense, peach is a countable noun, usually with a or the.

3. a soft shade that sits between orange and pink

3.nounA2
Definition

a soft shade that sits between orange and pink

Example

The designer chose peach for the baby's bedroom walls.

choose peach for + place

A band of peach spread across the sky before sunrise.

Common collocations
  • soft peach
  • pale peach
  • shade of peach
  • in peach
Synonyms
  • coral

    usually a stronger or pinker shade

  • salmon

    often a slightly deeper pink-orange shade

  • apricot

    often a more yellow-orange shade than peach

Grammar Patterns

choose peach for + place/object

soft peach

in peach

Usage Note

This sense names the color itself. Distinguish from adjective/1, which describes a noun directly, as in a peach dress.

Common Mistakes

She wore peach at the party.
She wore a peach dress at the party.' or 'She wore peach-colored clothes at the party.
Use the adjective when you describe clothing or another noun.

peach — adjective

peach — verb

Word family

  • peachy
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For this sense, peach is the normal word for the soft, juicy fruit with fuzzy skin and one large stone. Nectarine is extremely close in taste and shape, but its skin is smooth, so speakers do not usually call it a peach. Apricot is smaller, firmer, and often less juicy. Plum is also a stone fruit, but it usually has smooth skin and a different taste. If the skin has fine hairs, peach is usually the best choice. You can say I bought ripe peaches for dessert, but you would normally say nectarines if the fruit has shiny, smooth skin.

peach ↗nectarineapricotplum

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Peach came into English through French forms that go back to Latin persicum, a name that meant "Persian fruit." European speakers linked the fruit with Persia, and the word changed shape over time before becoming peach in English.