spike

Meaning

Noun

1. A sort of very large nail.
2. A piece of pointed metal etc. set with points upward or outward.
3. (broadly) Anything resembling such a nail in shape.
4. An ear of corn or grain.
5. A kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis.
6. (in-plural, informal) A running shoe with spikes in the sole to provide grip.
7. A sharp peak in a graph.
8. A surge in power or in the price of a commodity, etc.; any sudden and brief change that would be represented by a sharp peak on a graph.
9. The rod-like protrusion from a woman's high-heeled shoe that elevates the heel.
10. A long nail for storing papers by skewering them; (by extension) the metaphorical place where rejected newspaper articles are sent.
11. 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.
12. An adolescent male deer.
13. (historical, slang) The casual ward of a workhouse.
14. Spike lavender.
15. Synonym of endpin.
16. A mark indicating where a prop or other item should be placed on stage.
17. A small project that uses the simplest possible program to explore potential solutions.
18. An excessively high church Anglican.

Verb

1. To fasten with spikes, or long, large nails.
2. To set or furnish with spikes.
3. To embed nails into (a tree) so that any attempt to cut it down will damage equipment or injure people.
4. To fix on a spike.
5. (figuratively) To discard; to decide not to publish or make public.
6. To increase sharply.
7. To add alcohol or a drug into a drink, especially if covertly.
8. To add a small amount of one substance to another.
9. 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.
10. To render (a gun) unusable by driving a metal spike into its touch hole.
11. (slang) To slam the football to the ground, usually in celebration of scoring a touchdown, or to stop expiring time on the game clock after snapping the ball as to save time for the losing team to attempt to score the tying or winning points.
12. (slang) To inject a drug with a syringe.

Synonyms

ear

👂

thorn

nail

prickle

barb

spine

large nail

stud

tack

fortify

point

prong

lace

spike out

capitulum

impale

stand up

spindle

pin

sticker

rise

transfix

get up

inflorescence

javelin

dart

🎯

spike heel

empale

dog nail

spike nail

start

stiletto heel

stand

spear

tine

cob

piton

peg

cleat

pierce

needle

stake

peak

pike

enter

drive

defeat

caltrop

dagger

🗡️

calk

Translations

épi

👂

spiga

espiga

Spitze

Ähre

clou

chiodo

Stachel

Nagel

espiga

spica

espiga

pointe

στάχυ

Pronounced as (IPA)

/spaɪk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spike

Cognate with Icelandic: spík

Cognate with Swedish: spik

Cognate with Dutch: spijker

Cognate with Old English: spīcing

Cognate with Latin: spīca

In summary

From Middle English spike, spyke, spik, from Old Norse spík (“spike, sprig”), from Proto-Germanic *spīkō (“stick, splinter, point”), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“to be pointed; sharp point, stick”). Cognate with Icelandic spík (“spike”), Swedish spik (“spike, nail”), Dutch spijker (“nail”), Old English spīcing (“spike”), and Latin spīca (“ear of corn”), which may have influenced some senses.