as nearly vertical as possible without being free of the bottom
3. (of an anchored vessel)
having the anchor cable as nearly vertical as possible without freeing the anchor
adverb
4.
vertically
Also: apeek
Word origin
[1590–1600; a-1 + peak1]This word is first recorded in the period 1590–1600. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Byzantine, attack, tea, tube, volunteera- is a reduced form of the Old English preposition on, meaning “on,” “in,” “into,” “to,” “toward,” preserved before a noun in a prepositionalphrase, forming a predicate adjective or an adverbial element (afoot; abed; ashore; aside; away), or before an adjective (afar; aloud; alow), as a moribund prefix with a verb (acknowledge), and in archaic and dialectal use before a present participle in -ing (set the bells aringing); and added to a verb stem with the force of a present participle (ablaze; agape; aglow; astride; and originally, awry)