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Definition of peewee - 6 dictionary results

pee⋅wee

  [pee-wee] Informal.
Use peewee in a Sentence
–adjective
1. very small; tiny.
2. insignificant or inconsequential: a player sent to the peewee leagues.
–noun
3. a person or thing that is unusually small.
4. an animal that is small for its kind; runt.
5. Marbles. a small playing marble, often one made of clay rather than glass.
Origin:
1885–90; rhyming compound based on wee
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pee·wee 1   (pē'wē)   
n.   Informal
One, such as a child, that is relatively or unusually small.

[Probably reduplication of wee.]
pee'wee adj.
pee·wee 2   (pē'wē)   
n.  Variant of pewee.
pe·wee also pee·wee   (pē'wē)   
n.  Any of various small, olive-gray North American flycatchers of the genus Contopus, especially a wood pewee.

[Imitative of its call.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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peewee  (adj.)
1877, "small, tiny, for children," a dialect word, possibly a varied reduplication of wee. Attested earlier (1848) as a noun meaning "a small marble." (Baseball Hall-of-Famer Harold "Peewee" Reese got his nickname because he was a marbles champion before he became a Dodgers shortstop.) As a type of bird (variously applied on different continents) it is attested from 1886, imitative of a bird cry.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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peewee

any of eight species of birds of the genus Contopus (family Tyrannidae); it is named for its call, which is monotonously repeated from an open perch. In North America a sad, clear "pee-oo-wee" announces the presence of the eastern wood pewee (C. virens), while a blurry "peeurrr" is the call of the western wood pewee (C. sordidulus). Some authorities consider the western form to be a race of C. virens. Both forms are plain birds, about 14 cm (6 inches) long, that resemble the eastern phoebe; the two forms differ from the eastern phoebe, however, in being browner and more slender and in having two distinct whitish wing bars

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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