pike1
Origin of pike1
pike2
- a shafted weapon having a pointed head, formerly used by infantry.
- to pierce, wound, or kill with or as with a pike.
Origin of pike2
pike3
- come down the pike, Informal. to appear or come forth: the greatest idea that ever came down the pike.
Origin of pike3
pike4
- a hill or mountain with a pointed summit.
Origin of pike4
pike5
- a sharply pointed projection or spike.
- the pointed end of anything, as of an arrow or a spear.
Origin of pike5
pike6
- to go, leave, or move along quickly.
Origin of pike6
pike7
- 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 pike7
Pike
- James Albert,1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.
- Zeb·u·lon Montgomery [zeb-yoo-luh n] /ˈzɛb yʊ lən/, 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.
Examples from the Web for pike
Contemporary Examples
With lights flashing, the cruiser arrived at the Blooming Grove State Police barracks in Pike County.
Check out the popular bakery Piroshky Piroshky in Pike Place Market for some Eastern European stuffed delights.
Many probably believed he would emerge from the side carrying a pike with the head of a banker.
Pike was engaged to her Pride & Prejudice director Joe Wright—but the wedding was called off in 2008.
And of course we have health care coming down the pike, and all its subsidies to families up to 188 percent of the poverty line.
Historical Examples
Then he crept out of the room, got on the mare, and rode up the pike.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
And saying this he stabbed him with his pike in the face, and the blood spurted forth.
The Black TulipAlexandre Dumas (Pere)
But far eastward on the pike there slowly developed a soft, white haze.
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
Quite and clane the contrary—when the shillelah's up, the pike's down.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
They will be on my side, and I will keep in the middle of the 'pike.
Southern Lights and ShadowsVarious
pike1
- 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
- any of various similar fishes
Word Origin
pike2
- a medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff
- a point or spike
- (tr) to stab or pierce using a pike
Word Origin
pike3
- short for turnpike (def. 1)
pike4
- Northern English dialect a pointed or conical hill
Word Origin
pike5
piked (paɪkt)
- (of the body position of a diver) bent at the hips but with the legs straight
Word Origin
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."