# spoke

Pronunciation: say "SPOHK" US /spoʊk/, UK /spəʊk/

## Verb

1. Past tense of speak. — simple past of speak
   - Simple: Past tense of speak. Use it for the past.
   - _The senator spoke at length before the committee adjourned._
   - _Few delegates spoke against the proposal during the session._
7. To provide a wheel with spokes by fitting them into the hub and rim.
   - Simple: To fit a wheel with the bars that join its center to its rim.
   - _The wheelwright will spoke the rim and then true it on the lathe._
   - _Apprentices learn to spoke a wheel before they attempt to build a full cart._

## Noun

2. A support bar connecting the hub or axle of a wheel to its outer rim.
   - Simple: One of the thin bars that join the center of a wheel to its outer ring.
   - _The mechanic replaced a bent spoke on the front wheel._
   - _Wire spokes give a bicycle wheel its strength while keeping it light._
3. A crossbar on a ladder used as a step; a rung.
   - Simple: A bar or step on a ladder that you put your foot on to climb.
   - _She gripped a higher spoke and pulled herself onto the roof._
   - _The wooden spokes of the ladder were worn smooth from years of use._
4. An outlying point in a hub-and-spoke transportation network, connected to a central hub.
   - Simple: An outer stop in a travel system where the routes all spread out from one central place.
   - _Each regional depot serves as a spoke routing packages through the central hub._
   - _Airlines designed their networks so that distant spokes all feed one hub._
5. A projecting handle on the rim of a steering wheel, especially a ship's wheel.
   - Simple: One of the handles that stick out from a ship's steering wheel.
   - _The helmsman gripped a spoke to hold the ship on course._
   - _Polished brass spokes ringed the captain's heavy wheel._
6. A stick thrust into the wheel of a cart or wagon to keep the wheel from turning.
   - Simple: A stick pushed into a wheel to stop it from turning.
   - _On the steep track he wedged a spoke between the rim and the frame to slow the wagon._
   - _The carter always carried a stout spoke to lock the wheels on hills._

## Verb

8. Past participle of speak. Archaic or nonstandard; standard English uses spoken. *(archaic)* — past participle of speak
   - Simple: Past participle of speak. This is an old form. Today people say "spoken" instead.
   - _I have spoke with the magistrate, and he agrees._
   - _The terms had been spoke aloud before all the witnesses._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–7** — This word comes from Middle English "spoke," from Old English "spāca," going back to Proto-West Germanic "*spaikā" and Proto-Germanic "*spaikǭ." It is related to Scots "spaik," Dutch "spaak," and English "spike."
**Meanings 1, 8** — This form comes from Middle English "speke, spake, spoke, spak, spek, speken, spoken," from Old English "spæc, specen."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spoke (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).