Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
bopeep

bopeep

9.9
A game for young children where someone hides their face then suddenly shows it to make them laugh
  • noun
  • /boʊpip/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cucú
  • The mother played bopeep with her baby to make her laugh.

Examples

  • In the nursery, the children were giggling as they enjoyed a game of bopeep.

  • Let's play bopeep in the garden!

  • He remembered his grandmother playing bopeep with him when he was small.

  • Who wants to bopeep?

  • In the nursery, the children were giggling as they enjoyed a game of bopeep.

  • The mother played bopeep with her baby to make her laugh.

  • He remembered his grandmother playing bopeep with him when he was small.

Synonyms

peekaboo
vsbopeep
  • Baby Talk
10 2.0

A simple game where an adult hides their face and then shows it to make a young child laugh

is the same idea but serves only as an alternate name

Surface Forms

bopeep singular
bopeeps plural

Morphology

bopeep = peep (semi-transparent) = bo + peep

The element 'peep' suggests 'peek' while 'bo' is an exclamatory/fossilised element, so the nursery-name is conventionalised rather than fully literal.

Etymology

Bopeep comes from the playful phrase bo-peep, with bo like the short 'boo' surprise sound and peep meaning 'to look quickly', as in the game 'peekaboo'. So, bopeep names the children's game of hiding your face and then suddenly showing it to surprise and make someone laugh.