spike
See also Spike
English
Etymology
From Latin spīca "ear of grain"
Pronunciation
Noun
spike (plural spikes)
- A sort of very large nail; also, a piece of pointed iron set with points upward or outward.
- Anything resembling such a nail in shape.
- An ear of grain.
- (botany) A kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis.
- (in plural spikes; informal) Running shoes with spikes in the soles.
- A sharp peak in a graph.
- (volleyball) An attack from, usually, above the height of the net performed with the intent to send the ball straight to the floor of the opponent or off the hands of the opposing block.
- (zoology) An adolescent male deer.
- a surge in power.
- (slang) The casual ward of a workhouse.
- 1933: George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, p. 139.
- "Dere's tay spikes, and cocoa spikes, and skilly spikes."
- 1933: George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, p. 139.
- spike lavender
- oil of spike
Synonyms
Translations
very large nail
anything resembling like a nail in shape
ear of grain
botany: kind of inflorescence
informal: running shoes with spikes in the soles
sharp peak in a graph
volleyball
Verb
spike (third-person singular simple present spikes, present participle spiking, simple past and past participle spiked)
- To covertly put alcohol or another intoxicating substance in a drink that previously did not contain such substances.
- To add a small amount of one substance to another.
- The water sample to be tested has been spiked with arsenic, antimony, mercury, and lead in quantities commonly found in industrial effluents.
- (volleyball) To attack from, usually, above the height of the net with the intent to send the ball straight to the floor of the opponent or off the hands of the opposing block.
- (military) To render (a gun) unusable by driving a metal spike into its touch hole.
- 1834, Frederick Marryat, Peter Simple:
- He jumped down, wrenched the hammer from the armourer’s hand, and seizing a nail from the bag, in a few moments he had spiked the gun.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 235-6:
- Small skirmishes also took place, and the Afghans managed to seize a pair of mule-guns and force the British to spike and abandon two other precious guns.
- 1834, Frederick Marryat, Peter Simple:
- (journalism) To decide not to publish or make public.
- October 14, 2002, Jonathan Sale, The Guardian, Edward VIII news blackout.
- Instead, the "Beaver" declared he would spike the story about Wallis Simpson and make sure his fellow media moguls sat on it too.
- October 14, 2002, Jonathan Sale, The Guardian, Edward VIII news blackout.