handspike

[hand-spahyk]

noun

1. a bar used as a lever.

handspike

/ ˈhændˌspaɪk /

noun

1. a bar or length of pipe used as a lever

Word History and Origins

Origin of handspike¹

1605–15; < Dutch handspaak ( hand, spoke ² ), with -spaak replaced by spike ¹

Example Sentences

First mate angry; said it was folly, and to yield to such foolish ideas would demoralise the men; said he would engage to keep them out of trouble with a handspike.

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In many places the guns had to leave the road, and to be hauled up difficulties with tackle and handspikes.

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A great deal of the earliest logging on the Sound was done exclusively by hand, the logs being thrown into the water by handspikes and towed to the mill on the tide by skiffs.

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He was spitted on a hickory sapling, twelve feet long, supported on crutches, and turned by handspikes.

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The mate, after desperately defending himself with his heavy handspike, and breaking the skulls of several assailants, received a fearful gash across the face, destroying both eyes.

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