peep-eye
Peekaboo — the face-hiding game you play with a baby.
Also called peepi, peekaboo, peep eye.
Updated September 24, 2026
peep-eye pronunciation
/PEEP-eye/
Meaning
Southern and South Midland name for peekaboo. Cover your face, yank the blanket away, holler "Peep-eye!" Same game grandma plays on the couch or porch. Can also work as a verb: they're peep-eyeing with the baby. Glossary stubs sometimes gloss it as a plain peek or look, but in rural talk the home base is that baby game.
How folks use it
- “Granny's over there playing peep-eye with the baby.”
- “Peep-eye! I see you hiding under that quilt.”
Origin and etymology
DARE records peep-eye across the South and South Midland as the regional name for peekaboo, plus verb forms like peep-eyeing. Related to older face-hiding play words (bo-peep and kin). Peekaboo won nationally; peep-eye hung on in Southern family talk from Tennessee and Kentucky to coastal Carolina.
Frequently asked questions
Is peep-eye different from peekaboo?
Same game. Peep-eye is just what a lot of Southern families grew up calling it.