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definitions

hike

[hahyk]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hike ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), hiked, hik·ing.

verb (used with object), hiked, hik·ing.

to move, draw, or raise with a jerk (often followed by up): to hike up one's socks.
to increase, often sharply and unexpectedly: to hike the price of milk.

noun

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.

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RELATED WORDS

rambling, wandering, marching, exploring, walking

Idioms

    take a hike, Slang. to go away because one's company is not desired.

Origin of hike

First recorded in 1800–10; perhaps dialectal variant of hitch1
Related formshik·er, noun

Synonyms for hike

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hike ON THESAURUS.COM
1. tramp, ramble, trek, trudge, backpack.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hiking

Contemporary Examples of hiking

Historical Examples of hiking

  • Why, in my hiking to the Neva's bank and doing away with myself.

    Poor Folk

    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

  • We've only allowed them about a pint a day each, same as us, when they've been hiking steady.

    The Rogue Elephant

    Elliott Whitney

  • On a hiking trip the combined fry pan and baker will be used.

    Touring Afoot

    Claude Powell Fordyce

  • We'll get in some fishing and hiking and perhaps some hunting.

  • I know how hard it is to start after a body hasnt been hiking.

    Betty Lee, Sophomore

    David Goodger (goodger@python.org)

British Dictionary definitions for hiking

hike

verb

(intr) to walk a long way, usually for pleasure or exercise, esp in the country
(usually foll by up) to pull or be pulled; hitch
(tr) to increase (a price)

noun

a long walk
a rise in prices, wages, etc
Derived Formshiker, noun

Word Origin for hike

C18: of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hiking

hike

v.

1809, hyke "to walk vigorously," an English dialectal word of unknown origin. A yike from 1736 answers to the sense.

HIKE, v. to go away. It is generally used in a contemptuous sense. Ex. "Come, hike," i.e. take yourself off; begone. [Rev. Robert Forby, "The Vocabulary of East Anglia," London, 1830]

Sense of "pull up" (as pants) first recorded 1873 in American English, and may be a variant of hitch; extended sense of "raise" (as wages) is 1867. Related: Hiked; hiking. The noun is from 1865.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with hiking

hike

see take a hike.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.