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.
-
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
-
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
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.
See Examples For:
It pointed to hotter-than-expected consumer price index and producer price index prints, which have raised the probability of a further interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
A hike is fully priced for December, however, while a total of three 25 basis-point increases are anticipated over the next 12 months.
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 Fed meets again this month to set rates, and markets expect it to hold before a second 25-basis-point hike in December.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
As we reach the end of the hike, Leo joins his mom and Auntie Chey to hear a story about their high school days.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
With inflation rising faster than expected in September, investors are now bracing for the possibility of more interest-rate hikes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Despite the BOJ’s rate hikes and higher long-term interest rates, the dampening effect of rate increases on loan demand has not materialized so far,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Weakness in banks and chip stocks raises the stakes for tech earnings as hotter inflation revives concerns about Federal Reserve rate hikes.
From Barron's ● 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
In the mornings we sometimes went out on long hikes into the woods, and at night we played Scrabble or listened to records or sat reading in front of his big stone fireplace.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
The spark was ignited on September 23 when 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted from her lifelong Madrid home on a stretcher after the real estate firm that owned the apartment drastically hiked the rent.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Amazon increased some rental prices in July as well, but it hasn’t hiked prices on the A100 since January.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 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
So I hiked around the snout to the side where I thought the scar had been and I crouched in the shadow of a large fin, to see the gray side of the shark.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Musician and actor Steven Van Zandt is ready to part with his Greenwich Village penthouse, hiking the price up to a cool $18,995,000 after initially listing it for $15 million in June of this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 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
Ireland recommended hiking some of the levies but stuck more or less to the commission's original lines, saying the measures it was putting forward would raise 55 billion euros a year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Also, the minutes of the FOMC’s September meeting “reinforced the view that the Fed’s hiking cycle is not over,” the economist and currency strategist adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The camping guidebook referred to Magpie Island as a “primitive facility” which meant the hiking trails and campsites were cleared, but there was no water available and no picnic tables or fireplaces.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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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.
