pech

present singular third person pechs · participle present peching · participle past peched · past peched · alternative paich · alternative pegh

1. Northern EnglandScotlandTo pant, to struggle for breath.

   She peched and had to rest often.

   1954, Robin Jenkins, The Thistle and the Grail, published 1994, page 225

   4 more examples

   An' as they breisted the lang lang hill / The puir horse graned and peched.

   1913, John Buchan, Andrew Jameson, Lord Ardwall, page 136

   Then Chris saw Bruce, the porter, come in, with the mark on his jaw where his godfather hit him, then Leslie, the smith, paiching and sweating, he dropped his stick with an awful clatter.

   1933, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Cloud Howe (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 321

   When Graham reached him, however, he felt so exhausted he could not immediately explain; he had to sit on the ground, peching like a seal.

   1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 207

   If he could just stop breathing and listen but he was peching too much from the climb.

   1994, James Kelman, How Late it Was, How Late

1. pluralplural onlyAn indigenous ethnic group of north-eastern Honduras.

   Synonyms: Paya

1. An indigenous Amerindian language spoken in Honduras.

   Synonyms: Paya