Phrase guide

peephole optimization

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An optimization that works by eliminating redundant instructions from a small area of source code.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences, software-compilation

Examples

  • The loop was more than twice as fast after I had applied peephole optimization.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by computer scientist William Marshall McKeeman in 1965, from peephole + optimization.