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• pike
  pike

  noun

  any of several large, slender, voracious freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, having a long, flat snout.
• Pike
  Pike

  noun

  James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.

pike

¹ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

• pike,
  plural
• pikes
  plural

1. any of several large, slender, voracious freshwater fishes of the genus Esox, having a long, flat snout.

2. any of various superficially similar fishes, as the walleye or pikeperch.

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pike ² American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a shafted weapon having a pointed head, formerly used by infantry.

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verb (used with object)

piked, piking

1. to pierce, wound, or kill with or as with a pike.

pike ³ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a toll road or highway; turnpike.

2. a tollgate on a turnpike.

3. the toll paid at a tollgate.

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idioms

1. come down the pike, to appear or come forth.

   the greatest idea that ever came down the pike.

pike ⁴ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a hill or mountain with a pointed summit.

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pike ⁵ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. a sharply pointed projection or spike.

2. the pointed end of anything, as of an arrow or a spear.

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pike ⁶ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

verb (used without object)

Older Slang.

piked, piking

1. to go, leave, or move along quickly.

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pike ⁷ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

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.

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Pike ⁸ American  

[pahyk] / paɪk /

noun

1. James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.

2. Zebulon Montgomery 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.

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pike ¹ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. a medieval weapon consisting of an iron or steel spearhead joined to a long pole, the pikestaff

2. a point or spike

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verb

1. (tr) to stab or pierce using a pike

pike ² British  

/ paɪk /

noun

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

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pike ³ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. short for turnpike

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pike ⁴ British  

/ paɪk /

noun

1. dialect a pointed or conical hill

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pike ⁵ British  

/ paɪk /

adjective

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pikelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pike
  plural
• pikes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pike¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; so called from its pointed snout ( see pike ⁵)

Origin of pike²

First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French pique, feminine variant of pic “a pointed tool,” from Germanic. See pick ², pike ⁵, pique ¹

Origin of pike³

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; short for turnpike

Origin of pike⁴

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; special use of pike ⁵; compare Old English hornpīc “pinnacle”

Origin of pike⁵

First recorded before 900; Middle English pik “pick, spike, (pilgrim's) staff,” Old English pīc “pointed tool”; see pick ²

Origin of pike⁶

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English pyke (intransitive); perhaps originally “to equip oneself with a walking stick”; see pike ⁵

Origin of pike⁷

First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps special use of pike ¹

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Explanation

A pike was a long, spear-like weapon that infantry troops used in the medieval and Renaissance eras. Fighting with a pike while riding a horse required great balance. The difference between a pike and a spear is that a pike must be held with two hands in order to be thrust in the direction of an enemy fighter. The pointed end of a pike or spear is also known as a pike. It might seem confusing that a pike is also a type of freshwater fish, until you see the pike's sharp, pointed (pike-like) nose. In transportation, pike can refer to a highway. Finally, pike can mean a position in gymnastics or diving in which an athlete bends at the waist with toes pointed. The Old English root, piic, means "point."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pike Pike pikes piked piking

I think that most of my colleagues living and no longer living would agree that she was the greatest singer that ever came down the pike.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

She said she and other residents had noticed dead pike, carp, roach, eel, rudd and dace.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

“The market is thinking there’s a lot more downside coming down the pike than upside on inflation,” Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer of Regan Capital, said in a phone interview.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

I will not switch the topic to the NBA Lottery or the French Open or tell you about the northern pike my son caught this weekend at Lake Monona.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

After an hour of this, the pike left it alone, and when it had done so for the fifth time, El-ahrairah swam across himself and went home.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

“I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” Pike said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

In her statement, Pike said she is recovering "but healing is not the same as being okay."

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

US death row inmate Christa Pike has released her first public statement since her botched execution in September.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Pike survived her scheduled execution after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, a sedative that more than a dozen states use for capital punishment, in September.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

To preserve his cover, Pike, who smoked a corn pipe and had a smudge of a mustache, met Hale at a concealed spot near Whizbang.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

One gun did not give its possessor an advantage in battle over opponents armed with swords, pikes, or lances.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

The collections of the Smithsonian contain, for instance, pikes from John Brown’s failed slave rebellion in the South in 1859.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

The store, in the Baileys Crossroads area, is northwest of the Skyline Towers development and southeast of the intersection of Leesburg and Columbia pikes.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2021

But avoiding pain is not always possible as elite divers perform a dizzying array of pikes, tucks and somersaults.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2021

I flung open the window and leaned upon the ledge to see guards running helter-skelter in the orchard, their pikes and swords in hand.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Here’s what happened: First, my stomach sank as the Russian Olympic Committee’s normally-stunning Nikita Nagornyy debuted his triple back piked salto—only to almost sit down the landing and stumble out of bounds multiple times.

From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2021

The 'firework' 3.5 somersault with one twist routine replaces what had become known as his 'demon' dive - a piked 2.5 somersault, 2.5 twist routine - which Taylor actually invented.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2015

On bars, Douglas demonstrated why she is nicknamed The Flying Squirrel with the height of her piked Tkatchevs and double straight dismount and the US left no room for error on beam or floor either.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 29, 2012

She soared so high on her first release, flipping herself up and back over the bar, her legs piked, that she could have reached out and touched her toes before grabbing the bar.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2012

Peter dug his crutches into the turf and piked hard.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

Yes, and this winter I've got a trip planned out that will make all the others look piking.

From Connie Morgan in the Fur Country by James B. (James Beardsley) Hendryx

I don't want anybody up here piking around just because I took a double header into space.

From Tom Slade at Black Lake by Howard L. (Howard Livingston) Hastings

You don't look as if you had come to that—though it's queer the sort of fellows you do meet piking sometimes.

From The Shuttle by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I had a hunch all along that you'd both come piking along sometime to-night or to-morrow, and after this, I refuse to worry in any degree about you.

From Army Boys on German Soil Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs by Homer Randall

Last seen she was piking off after Miss Busy Buzzy.

From Marjorie Dean College Freshman by Pauline Lester

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