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• pike
  pike

  noun

  any of several large, slender, voracious freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, having a long, flat snout.
• Pike
  Pike

  noun

  James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.

pike

¹ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

• pike,
  plural
• pikes
  plural

1. any of several large, slender, voracious freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, having a long, flat snout.

2. any of various superficially similar fishes, as the walleye or pikeperch.

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pike ² American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a shafted weapon having a pointed head, formerly used by infantry.

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verb (used with object)

piked, piking

1. to pierce, wound, or kill with or as with a pike.

pike ³ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a toll road or highway; turnpike.

2. a tollgate on a turnpike.

3. the toll paid at a tollgate.

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idioms

1. come down the pike, to appear or come forth.

   the greatest idea that ever came down the pike.

pike ⁴ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a hill or mountain with a pointed summit.

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pike ⁵ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a sharply pointed projection or spike.

2. the pointed end of anything, as of an arrow or a spear.

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pike ⁶ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

verb (used without object)

Older Slang.

piked, piking

1. to go, leave, or move along quickly.

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pike ⁷ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

Diving, Gymnastics.

1. a body position, resembling a V shape, in which the back and head are bent forward and the legs lifted and held together, with the hands touching the feet or backs of the knees or the arms extended sideways.

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Pike ⁸ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.

2. Zebulon Montgomery 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.

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pike ¹ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. a medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff

2. a point or spike

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verb

1. (tr) to stab or pierce using a pike

pike ² British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. any of several large predatory freshwater teleost fishes of the genus Esox, esp E. lucius ( northern pike ), having a broad flat snout, strong teeth, and an elongated body covered with small scales: family Esocidae

2. any of various similar fishes

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pike ³ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. short for turnpike

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pike ⁴ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. dialect a pointed or conical hill

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pike ⁵ British  

/ paɪk /

adjective

1. (of the body position of a diver) bent at the hips but with the legs straight

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pikelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pike
  plural
• pikes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pike¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; so called from its pointed snout ( see pike ⁵)

Origin of pike²

First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French pique, feminine variant of pic “a pointed tool,” from Germanic. See pick ², pike ⁵, pique ¹

Origin of pike³

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; short for turnpike

Origin of pike⁴

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; special use of pike ⁵; compare Old English hornpīc “pinnacle”

Origin of pike⁵

First recorded before 900; Middle English pik “pick, spike, (pilgrim's) staff,” Old English pīc “pointed tool”; see pick ²

Origin of pike⁶

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English pyke (intransitive); perhaps originally “to equip oneself with a walking stick”; see pike ⁵

Origin of pike⁷

First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps special use of pike ¹

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Explanation

A pike was a long, spear-like weapon that infantry troops used in the medieval and Renaissance eras. Fighting with a pike while riding a horse required great balance. The difference between a pike and a spear is that a pike must be held with two hands in order to be thrust in the direction of an enemy fighter. The pointed end of a pike or spear is also known as a pike. It might seem confusing that a pike is also a type of freshwater fish, until you see the pike's sharp, pointed (pike-like) nose. In transportation, pike can refer to a highway. Finally, pike can mean a position in gymnastics or diving in which an athlete bends at the waist with toes pointed. The Old English root, piic, means "point."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pike Pike pikes piked piking

Firefighters responded, opened the rear end of the truck and used pike poles to remove the garbage by hand, according to Samuel Menchaca, a public information officer with the San Francisco Fire Department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

She said she and other residents had noticed dead pike, carp, roach, eel, rudd and dace.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Browning was associated with larger populations of northern pike and walleye.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

“The market is thinking there’s a lot more downside coming down the pike than upside on inflation,” Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer of Regan Capital, said in a phone interview.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

“Do you leave me sucking my thumbs? Let Morgant, that black-bearded, cold-blooded, slippery-scaled pike, play rear guard!”

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

A critical climate case is on the docket and the justice’s record on the death penalty was on full display with the botched execution of Christa Pike; they discuss it all.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

At 21:34, as Pike was being taken to hospital, one medic asked a colleague to ensure the prison knew where Pike was being taken, "just 'cause there's been so much other confusion".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Pike later regained consciousness, and her attorneys have sought to preserve evidence from the botched procedure.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

Christa Pike, the Tennessee inmate who survived the state’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, was discharged from the hospital and is back in prison, her attorneys said Saturday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Agents demanded, through the intermediary, that Pike come forward.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

At different moments since then, his pikes have symbolized a demented terrorist’s scheme for mass murder, a religious fanatic’s fiery crusade and a hero’s lonely struggle for justice.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

The store, in the Baileys Crossroads area, is northwest of the Skyline Towers development and southeast of the intersection of Leesburg and Columbia pikes.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2021

But avoiding pain is not always possible as elite divers perform a dizzying array of pikes, tucks and somersaults.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2021

With their cooperation, Brown diverted money from the cause of Kansas to the purchase of guns and simple iron pikes to arm the slaves he expected to follow him.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

The steel points of their pikes winked in the pale sunlight as the column approached.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Here’s what happened: First, my stomach sank as the Russian Olympic Committee’s normally-stunning Nikita Nagornyy debuted his triple back piked salto—only to almost sit down the landing and stumble out of bounds multiple times.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2021

And whether she gets the piked Arabian on beam named after her, or makes it back to Worlds or even the Olympics, she doesn’t expect medals to be her comeback legacy.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 27, 2020

The 'firework' 3.5 somersault with one twist routine replaces what had become known as his 'demon' dive - a piked 2.5 somersault, 2.5 twist routine - which Taylor actually invented.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2015

She soared so high on her first release, flipping herself up and back over the bar, her legs piked, that she could have reached out and touched her toes before grabbing the bar.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2012

Peter dug his crutches into the turf and piked hard.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

"All you got to do is keep your eyes peeled, and you'll see us piking in here right on the dot," laughed Tom.

From Bert Wilson on the Gridiron by J. W. Duffield

The topography was nearly as broken, in its way, as the natural "piking" spread over it, and very beautiful with the dense forests lighted by the slanting yellow rays of the afternoon sun.

From Cave Regions of the Ozarks and Black Hills by Luella Agnes Owen

I had a hunch all along that you'd both come piking along sometime to-night or to-morrow, and after this, I refuse to worry in any degree about you.

From Army Boys on German Soil Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs by Homer Randall

He was so absorbed that he did not see me, nor the two helmets piking above my shoulder.

From The Haunted Pajamas by Francis Perry Elliott

He 's just a plain, ordinary, piking crook.

From Prince or Chauffeur? A Story of Newport by J. V. McFall

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