Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US black) to scrutinise, to uncover something that was meant to be kept secret by checking.

a.1954		‘Mexicana Rose’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 37: Now his cufflinks looked like they cost a grand, / But I peeped the back; they said, ‘Made in Japan.’.
a.1962		‘The Letter’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 141: Remember that gold watch you said cost a grand? / Well, we peeped the back and it said, ‘Made in motherfucking Japan.’.
1974		V.E. Smith Jones Men 41: It hadda be somebody who been peepin’ your shit.
1991		Cooper & Wright New Jack City [film script] Peep this out. Freebase. So what?
2006		J. Ridley What Fire Cannot Burn 155: IA cops were not cops that cops wanted other cops to peep them talking with.
2012		‘Dutch’ ? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] He had already peeped the temporary license plate.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 5: I roll to the crib and peep a side window.

2. (also peep out) to put someone or something under surveillance; in weak use, to watch, to look at.

1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 409: Lou, are you sure you’ve really peeped this cat?
1978		J. Webb Fields of Fire (1980) 169: Peep the neighbors out. If a neighbor comes to a window, wait until they go away.
1988		Ice-T ‘High Rollers’ 🎵 Most men don’t understand it / Till they peep the huge bank that these girls have landed.
1993		Snoop Doggy Dogg ‘What’s My Name?’ 🎵 Yeah, so peep out the manuscript / You see that it’s a must we drop gangsta shit.
1999		Dr Dre ‘Ackrite’ 🎵 Cuties peep my style, if I don’t get some ackrite / I’ma have to ack-wild.
2007		B. Coleman Check the Technique 489: I have had the highest respect for him since I first peeped his 1993 book It’s Not About a Salary.
2012		J. Díaz This Is How You Lose Her 209: On the T you swear you peep her in the rush-hour mix.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 34: Peep me, B and E me, wire me for sound.

3. to pay close attention, to listen to what somebody is saying.

1992		UGK ‘976-Bun B’ 🎵 That new shit for ninety-two / All you niggaz peep this one.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 163: Peep this — Charley’s mother walk in, ‘I want to open a high-yield savings account’.