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pike

1
[pahyk]
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noun, plural (especially collectively) pike, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) pikes.
  1. any of several large, slender, voracious freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, having a long, flat snout: the blue pike of the Great Lakes is now extinct.
  2. any of various superficially similar fishes, as the walleye or pikeperch.

Origin of pike

1
1275–1325; Middle English; so called from its pointed snout (see pike5)
Related formspike·like, adjective

pike

2
[pahyk]
noun
  1. a shafted weapon having a pointed head, formerly used by infantry.
verb (used with object), piked, pik·ing.
  1. to pierce, wound, or kill with or as with a pike.

Origin of pike

2
1505–15; < Middle French pique, feminine variant of pic pick2 < Germanic. See pike5, pique1

pike

3
[pahyk]
noun
  1. a toll road or highway; turnpike road.
  2. a turnpike or tollgate.
  3. the toll paid at a tollgate.
Idioms
  1. come down the pike, Informal. to appear or come forth: the greatest idea that ever came down the pike.

Origin of pike

3
1820–30, Americanism; short for turnpike

pike

4
[pahyk]
noun Chiefly British.
  1. a hill or mountain with a pointed summit.

Origin of pike

4
1350–1400; Middle English; special use of pike5; compare Old English hornpīc pinnacle

pike

5
[pahyk]
noun
  1. a sharply pointed projection or spike.
  2. the pointed end of anything, as of an arrow or a spear.

Origin of pike

5
before 900; Middle English pik pick, spike, (pilgrim's) staff, Old English pīc pointed tool. See pick2

pike

6
[pahyk]
verb (used without object), piked, pik·ing. Older Slang.
  1. to go, leave, or move along quickly.

Origin of pike

6
1425–75; late Middle English pyke (reflexive); perhaps orig. to equip oneself with a walking stick. See pike5

pike

7
[pahyk]
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.Compare layout(def 10), tuck1(def 13).

Origin of pike

7
First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps special use of pike1

Pike

[pahyk]
noun
  1. James Albert,1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.
  2. Zeb·u·lon Montgomery [zeb-yoo-luh n] /ˈzɛb yʊ lən/, 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pike

lance, thruway, point, drive, freeway, expressway, road, tollgate, parkway

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Contemporary Examples of pike

Historical Examples of pike

British Dictionary definitions for pike

pike

1
noun plural pike or pikes
  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

Word Origin for pike

C14: short for pikefish, from Old English pīc point, with reference to the shape of its jaw

pike

2
noun
  1. a medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff
  2. a point or spike
verb
  1. (tr) to stab or pierce using a pike

Word Origin for pike

Old English pīc point, of obscure origin

pike

3
noun
  1. short for turnpike (def. 1)

pike

4
noun
  1. Northern English dialect a pointed or conical hill

Word Origin for pike

Old English pīc, of obscure origin

pike

5

piked (paɪkt)

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

Word Origin for pike

C20: of obscure 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 pike
n.1

"highway," 1812 shortening of turnpike.

n.2

"weapon with a long shaft and a pointed metal head," 1510s, from Middle French pique "a spear; pikeman," from piquer "to pick, puncture, pierce," from Old French pic "sharp point or spike," a general continental term (cf. Spanish pica, Italian picca, Provençal piqua), perhaps ultimately from a Germanic [Barnhart] or Celtic source (see pike (n.4)). Alternative explanation traces the Old French word (via Vulgar Latin *piccare "to prick, pierce") to Latin picus "woodpecker." "Formerly the chief weapon of a large part of the infantry; in the 18th c. superseded by the bayonet" [OED]; hence old expressions such as pass through pikes "come through difficulties, run the gauntlet;" push of pikes "close-quarters combat." German Pike, Dutch piek, Danish pik, etc. are from French pique.

n.3

"voracious freshwater fish," early 14c., probably short for pike-fish, a special use of pike (n.2) in reference to the fish's long, pointed jaw, and in part from French brochet "pike" (fish), from broche "a roasting spit."

n.4

"pick used in digging," Middle English pik, pyk, collateral (long-vowel) form of pic (source of pick (n.1)), from Old English piic "pointed object, pickaxe," perhaps from a Celtic source (cf. Gaelic pic "pickaxe," Irish pice "pike, pitchfork"). Extended early 13c. to "pointed tip" of anything. Pike, pick, and pitch formerly were used indifferently in English. Pike position in diving, gymnastics, etc., attested from 1928, perhaps on the notion of "tapering to a point."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper