hike
Americanverb (used without object)
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to walk or march a great distance, especially through rural areas, for pleasure, exercise, military training, or the like.
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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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to move, draw, or raise with a jerk (often followed byup ).
to hike up one's socks.
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to increase, often sharply and unexpectedly.
to hike the price of milk.
noun
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a long walk or march for recreational activity, military training, or the like.
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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
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a long walk
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a rise in prices, wages, etc
Other Word Forms
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
Sports and Hobbies
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What Does the Fed's Raising Interest Rates Mean?
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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.
The futures market now sees a 70% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike of at least one-quarter percentage point by December, according to the CME FedWatch tool External link.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
Should central banks hike rates, that could exacerbate vulnerabilities in “opaque nonbank leverage.”
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
PCE inflation figures will be a highlight among economic data, with investors increasingly anticipating a Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Morgan economists look for the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan to raise their policy rates in June, with a possible hike from the Bank of England.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
She had to concentrate on the present, putting one foot in front of the other, taking this downhill intestinal hike one giant wart at a time.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
