peaka peow

noun

A gambling game, originally Chinese, in which bets are laid on secretly selected numbers.

OriginCantonese 白鴿票 /白鸽票 →
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Meanings

nounpeaka peow (uncountable)
  1. CaribbeanuncountableA gambling game, originally Chinese, in which bets are laid on secretly selected numbers.

    'And curiously enough,' M's voice was softer and quieter, 'a twenty-dollar bill which one of these casual negroes had paid for a gold coin and whose number he had noted for Peaka Peow, the Numbers game, was paid out by one of Mr. Big's lieutenants.'

    1954, Ian Fleming, “Interview with M”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 17

Origin

  1. Cantonese白鴿票 /白鸽票
  2. Englishpeaka peow

From a source cognate with pakapoo (from Cantonese 白鴿票 /白鸽票 (baak6 gaap3-2 biu1)).

More words from Cantonese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

peaka peow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peaka%20peow

MLA

“peaka peow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peaka%20peow. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peaka peow,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peaka%20peow.

Source: peaka peow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.