Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Spike?

\Spike\, n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D. spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel. sp[=i]k; all perhaps from L. spica a point, an ear of grain; but in the sense of nail more likely akin to E. spoke of a wheel. Cf. {Spine}.] 1. A sort of very large nail; also, a piece of pointed iron set with points upward or outward. 2. Anything resembling such a nail in shape. He wears on his head the corona radiata . . .; the spikes that shoot out represent the rays of the sun. --Addison. 3. An ear of corn or grain. 4. (Bot.) A kind of flower cluster in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis. {Spike grass} (Bot.), either of two tall perennial American grasses ({Uniola paniculata}, and {U. latifolia}) having broad leaves and large flattened spikelets. {Spike rush}. (Bot.) See under {Rush}. {Spike shell} (Zo["o]l.), any pteropod of the genus {Styliola} having a slender conical shell. {Spike team}, three horses, or a horse and a yoke of oxen, harnessed together, a horse leading the oxen or the span. [U.S.]
\Spike\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spiked}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Spiking}.] 1. To fasten with spikes, or long, large nails; as, to spike down planks. 2. To set or furnish with spikes. 3. To fix on a spike. [R.] --Young. 4. To stop the vent of (a gun or cannon) by driving a spike nail, or the like into it.
\Spike\, n. [Cf. G. spieke, L. spica an ear of grain. See {Spikenard}.] (Bot.) Spike lavender. See {Lavender}. {Oil of spike} (Chem.), a colorless or yellowish aromatic oil extracted from the European broad-leaved lavender, or aspic ({Lavendula Spica}), used in artist's varnish and in veterinary medicine. It is often adulterated with oil of turpentine, which it much resembles.