spike

Meaning

1. A sort of very large nail.
2. A piece of pointed metal etc. set with points upward or outward.
3. 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. (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. (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.

ear

large nail

spike out

spike nail

empale

dog nail

spike heel

peak value

give a start

long nail

pointed end

wave crest

caltrap

acantha

aculeus

rastellus

dog-nail

hooked nail

tenter-hook

dog spike

rail spike

wire nail

rake teeth

ridge of wave

spike pulse

cornear

fasten with nails

pricking pin

spike wave

rake tooth

draw nail

plate nail

road spike

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/spaɪk/

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.