Meanings
plural spring peepers
- A small chorus frog of North America (Pseudacris crucifer).First known use 19th c.
It was May before the skunk cabbage began to push up through the ooze of the swamps, before the rhubarb reddened to the back corner of the garden and the spring peepers finally emerged and began abrading the edges of the night with their lovesick vibrato.
1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 297Synonyms: pinkletink
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small chorus frog of North America (Pseudacris crucifer).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna small brown tree toad having a shrill call heard near wetlands of eastern United States and Canada in early spring
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Because it peeps (makes a sound) in the spring (the season).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish Pseudacris crucifer -sammakko
- Pseudacris crucifer -sammakkoTranslations
French rainette crucifère
- rainette crucifèreTranslations
Polish rzekotka
- rzekotkaTranslations
Cite this entry
spring peeper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spring%20peeper
“spring peeper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spring%20peeper. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spring peeper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spring%20peeper.
Source: spring peeper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.