hike
Americanverb (used without object)
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hikes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hiked,
past participle, past
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hiking
present participle
-
to walk or march a great distance, especially through rural areas, for pleasure, exercise, military training, or the like.
-
to move up or rise, as out of place or position (often followed byup ).
My shirt hikes up if I don't wear a belt.
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Nautical. to hold oneself outboard on the windward side of a heeling sailboat to reduce the amount of heel.
verb (used with object)
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hikes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hiked,
past participle, past
-
hiking
present participle
-
to move, draw, or raise with a jerk (often followed byup ).
to hike up one's socks.
-
to increase, often sharply and unexpectedly.
to hike the price of milk.
noun
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hikes
plural
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a long walk or march for recreational activity, military training, or the like.
-
an increase or rise, often sharp and unexpected.
a hike in wages.
idioms
verb
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(intr) to walk a long way, usually for pleasure or exercise, esp in the country
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(usually foll by up) to pull or be pulled; hitch
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(tr) to increase (a price)
noun
-
a long walk
-
a rise in prices, wages, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hikesimple
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hikessimple
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have hikedperfect
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has hikedperfect
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am hikingprogressive
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are hikingprogressive
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is hikingprogressive
-
have been hikingperfect progressive
-
has been hikingperfect progressive
Past
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hikedsimple
-
had hikedperfect
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was hikingprogressive
-
were hikingprogressive
-
had been hikingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hike
First recorded in 1800–10; perhaps dialectal variant of hitch 1
Explanation
To hike is to walk a long way at a leisurely pace. You might love to hike in the woods on weekends. When you hike, you walk for pleasure, often in a wooded or hilly area. The trip itself is also a hike, whether you hike the Appalachian Trail or climb a local hill. Another meaning of hike is "to increase," as when the library decides to hike the fees for late books. Hike has been around since the 1800's, when it was spelled hyke, but its origin is uncertain. The "walk vigorously" meaning is older than the "raise or increase" meaning.
Vocabulary lists containing hike
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Unit 13
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Financial-technology stocks may be feeling the pain as well from fears of an imminent rate hike, as higher rates mean higher default risk for lenders, Mizuho anlayst Dan Dolev told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
HDB plans to pass on the RBI’s 25-basis-point October repo hike to floating-rate loan-against-property customers, with rate revisions in other segments to be calibrated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Here are trails to hike before major rainfall strikes Highway 2, the main route through the San Gabriel Mountains, potentially leading to closures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The reading was the highest in five months and saw investors push up bets on a second-successive rate hike this month.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
“And what if the fire moves faster than we can hike? We’d be climbing right into the fire. Not smart. Our only escape would be to outrun the fire.”
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The central bank had carried out several rate hikes earlier in the year to shore up the rupiah, after it came under pressure over the state of Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Wells Fargo team expects four more Fed rate hikes through the end of 2027, which would bring its policy rate to a range of about 4.75% to 5%.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
BANGKOK—The energy shock has stoked expectations of interest-rate hikes to tame inflation, but Thailand’s central bank has room to wait, a top official says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
There’s other data making a salient argument for hikes in October and December, said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist for Nationwide.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
On Sundays, Hall sometimes went on hikes or played a little Ping-Pong.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
Hundreds of tents have occupied Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square since she was taken away on a stretcher last month after the real estate company that owned her flat drastically hiked the rent.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Trend-following funds thrived in 2022, when both stocks and bonds struggled as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to quash rapid inflation.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Amex hiked the annual fee on its Platinum card by $200 last year, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve saw a similarly big leap from $550 to $795.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Just this year, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV and YouTube Premium have all also hiked their subscription fees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
We had hiked twenty-two miles in two days—a highly respectable distance for us—but a distinct listlessness and sense of anticlimax, a kind of midmountain lassitude, had set in.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
On Friday, streets were quiet in Bend, an area known for its natural beauty, with hiking trails and ski slopes nearby that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Months after her hip-replacement surgery, the pair set out for Iceland’s little-visited Westfjords—putting both travelers to the test against winding roads, thundering waterfalls and uneven hiking trails.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Wang Zhoutao runs a hiking business to help people who want to climb China's famous mountain Huangshan in Anhui Province.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Kalem Peter Kazarian, 52, died Monday while hiking on Mt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Still tired and out of condition from their long months of confinement and their voyages, the men found the hiking a strain.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
