spike

SPYK/spaɪk/

Noun pluralspikes

30 meanings of spike

1
rise sharplyverbintransitive
To go up suddenly and by a lot.
Ice cream sales spike every time the weather turns hot.
Her fever spiked during the night.
Similarsoar, surge, jump, rocket, leap
Oppositeplunge, plummet, drop, fall
2
nouncountable
A sudden, short rise in something, such as power or prices.
A power spike broke our TV during the storm.
There is always a spike in flu cases in the winter.
Similarsurge, jump, rise, increase, leap
Oppositedrop, dip, fall, plunge
Note
3
metal pointnouncountable
A sharp, pointed piece of metal or other material that sticks up or out.
The fence has spikes along the top to keep people out.
A metal spike stuck up from the top of each post.
4
large nailnouncountable
A very big, strong nail.
Dad used a hammer to drive a spike into the old wooden post.
The workers pulled rusty spikes out of the old railroad track.
Similarnail
Note
5
pointed shapenouncountable
Anything with a long, pointed shape like a big nail.
His hair stood up in little spikes after the swim.
A spike of ice hung from the edge of the roof.
Similarspine, needle, spire
6
add to drinkverbtransitive
To put alcohol or a drug into a drink, often secretly.
Someone spiked the punch at the school dance.
Never leave your drink alone, because someone could spike it.
Similarlace, drug, dope, doctor
Note
7
graph peaknouncountable
A sharp, pointed high point on a graph.
Look at the spike on the chart in March.
The heart monitor showed a tall spike each time his heart beat.
Similarpeak, blip
Oppositedip, trough
8
hit (volleyball)verbtransitive or intransitive
In volleyball, to hit the ball hard and down over the net from high up.
She jumped high and spiked the ball over the net.
Our tallest player can spike from the back row.
Similarattack, hit
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9
volleyball shotnouncountable
In volleyball, a hard hit from high up that sends the ball down over the net.
Her spike hit the floor before anyone could move.
The team won the game with three spikes in a row.
Similarsmash
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10
running shoenouncolloquialcountableplural
A running shoe with small sharp points under it so it grips the ground.
Put on your spikes before the race starts.
She found her left spike under the bench.
Note

11
thin heelnouncountable
The thin, tall heel on some women's high-heeled shoes.
Her spike got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk.
The spikes on her new shoes were almost four inches tall.
Similarstiletto
12
add to sampleverbtransitive
To add a small amount of one thing to another.
The lab spiked the water with a little salt to check the test.
Cooks sometimes spike a sauce with a drop of hot pepper oil.
Note
13
slam (football)verbslangtransitive
In American football, to throw the ball hard at the ground, to celebrate a touchdown or to stop the game clock.
He spiked the ball in the end zone after scoring.
With ten seconds left, the coach told the quarterback to spike it.
Similarslam
Note
14
nail downverbtransitive
To fix something in place with very big nails.
They spiked the boards to the frame of the old barn.
We need to spike down the planks before the storm hits.
Similarnail
15
add sharp pointsverbtransitive
To put spikes on something.
The owner spiked the top of the wall to keep climbers out.
Some runners spike their old shoes for races on muddy ground.
16
drop a storyverbfigurativelytransitive
To throw something out, especially a news story, and decide not to print or share it.
Editors may spike a piece if they cannot check the facts.
The paper spiked her story about the mayor.
Similarkill, suppress, scrap, shelve, bury
Oppositepublish, release
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17
nail for papersnouncountable
A long nail for holding papers, or the place where a newspaper sends stories it will not print.
The old shop kept its receipts on a spike by the cash register.
Her story about the school board ended up on the spike.
Similarspindle
Note
18
verbtransitive
To push something onto a sharp metal point to hold it.
He spiked the old ticket on the nail by the door.
Waiters spike each order on a metal pin when it is done.
Similarskewer, impale
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19
flower clusternouncountable
A long stem with flowers growing straight on it, without small stalks of their own.
Each gladiolus stem ends in a tall spike of flowers.
The weed's tiny flowers grow in thin green spikes.
Note
20
ear of grainnouncountable
The part at the top of a grain plant that holds the seeds.
The farmer picked a spike of wheat to check the grain.
The field was full of heavy spikes of barley.
Similarear, head
21
inject drugverbslangintransitive
To put a drug into the body through a needle.
His friends asked him not to spike again and threw his needles away.
The police found a needle in her car and said she had been spiking drugs.
Similarinject
Note
22
software testnouncountable
In software work, a small, quick test project to find out whether an idea can work.
We did a short spike to test the new idea.
The spike showed that the plan would not work.
Note
23
stage marknouncountable
A small mark on a stage floor that shows where to put a prop or other object.
Put the lamp on its spike before the show starts.
The actors checked the spikes so they knew where the table went.
Similarmark
Note
24
stop loggingverbtransitive
To hammer nails into a tree so that cutting it down will break the saw or hurt someone.
Protesters spiked the old trees to stop the loggers.
The police think someone will try to spike the trees before the loggers arrive.
25
disable a gunverbtransitive
To stop an old gun from working by hammering a metal spike into the small hole used to fire it.
The soldiers spiked the guns and ran.
They had no time to spike the cannon before the enemy came.
Similardisable
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26
young deernouncountable
A young male deer that is not yet an adult.
We saw a spike drinking at the pond this morning.
Two young spikes were eating apples under the tree.
Note
27
lavendernoununcountable
A kind of lavender plant, known in full as spike lavender.
The soap smelled of spike and rosemary.
Painters once used oil of spike to thin their paint.
28
nouncountable
Another name for the endpin of a stringed instrument such as a cello.
He set the spike of his cello on the floor.
The bass's spike left a small mark on the stage.
Similarendpin
Note
29
night shelternounslanghistoricalcountable
A place in an old workhouse where people with no home could stay for a night.
The tramp walked twenty miles to reach the next spike before dark.
Dere's tay spikes, and cocoa spikes, and skilly spikes.
1933, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Down and Out in Paris and LondonHere, spikes means workhouse places where homeless people stay for a night.
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30
high Anglicannouncountable
An Anglican who likes very formal church ceremony much more than most people think is right.
The new priest is a real spike and loves incense and bells.
Her uncle was a spike who wanted every service sung.
Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from the Old Norse word spík, meaning “spike”, from an old root meaning “sharp point”.