Adjacent Words

Pike definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PIKE, n. [This word belongs to a numerous family of words expressing something pointed, or a sharp point, or as verbs, to dart,to thrust, to prick.]
1. A military weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a flat steel head pointed; called the spear. This weapon was formerly used by infantry, but its use is now limited to officers, and it is called a sponton or spontoon. Its use among soldiers is superseded by the bayonet.
2. A fork used in husbandry; but we now use fork or pitchfork.
3. Among turners, the iron sprigs used to fasten any thing to be turned.
4. In ichthyology, a fish of the genus Esox, so named from its long shape or from the form of its snout. It is a fresh water fish, living in deep water and very voracious, but very palatable food.
The pike, the tyrant of the flood.
PIK'ED, a. Ending in a point; acuminated.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a broad highway designed for high-speed traffic [syn: expressway, freeway, motorway, pike, state highway, superhighway, throughway, thruway]
2: highly valued northern freshwater fish with lean flesh
3: a sharp point (as on the end of a spear)
4: medieval weapon consisting of a spearhead attached to a long pole or pikestaff; superseded by the bayonet
5: any of several elongate long-snouted freshwater game and food fishes widely distributed in cooler parts of the northern hemisphere

Merriam Webster's

biographical name Zebulon Montgomery 1779-1813 American general & explorer

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English p?c pickax Date: 13th century 1. pikestaff 1 2. a sharp point or spike; also the tip of a spear • piked adjective II. noun Etymology: Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect p?k pointed mountain Date: 13th century dialect England a mountain or hill having a peaked summit — used especially in place names III. noun (plural pike or pikes) Etymology: Middle English, from ¹pike Date: 14th century 1. a. a large elongate long-snouted freshwater bony fish (Esox lucius) valued for food and sport and widely distributed in cooler parts of the northern hemisphere — called also northern, northern pike b. any of various fishes (family Esocidae) related to the pike: as (1) muskellunge (2) pickerel 2. any of various fishes resembling the pike in appearance or habits IV. noun Etymology: Middle French pique, from piquer to prick, from Vulgar Latin *piccare, perhaps from Latin picus woodpecker — more at pie Date: circa 1511 a heavy spear with a very long shaft used by infantry especially in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century V. transitive verb (piked; piking) Date: 1798 to pierce, kill, or wound with a pike VI. intransitive verb (piked; piking) Etymology: Middle English pyken (reflexive) Date: 1526 1. to leave abruptly <get lonely and sore, and pike out — Sinclair Lewis> 2. to make one's way <pike along> VII. noun Date: 1812 1. turnpike 2. a railroad or railroad line or system VIII. noun Etymology: perhaps from ³pike Date: 1928 a body position (as in diving) in which the hips are bent, the knees are straight, and the hands touch the toes or clasp the legs behind or just above the knees

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. (pl. same) 1 a large voracious freshwater fish, Esox lucius, with a long narrow snout and sharp teeth. 2 any other fish of the family Esocidae. Phrases and idioms: pike-perch any of various pikelike perches of the genus Lucioperca or Stizostedion. Etymology: ME, = PIKE(2) (because of its pointed jaw) 2. n. & v. --n. 1 hist. an infantry weapon with a pointed steel or iron head on a long wooden shaft. 2 N.Engl. the peaked top of a hill, esp. in names of hills in the Lake District. --v.tr. thrust through or kill with a pike. Phrases and idioms: pike on colloq. withdraw timidly from. Etymology: OE pic point, prick: sense 2 perh. f. ON 3. n. 1 a toll-gate; a toll. 2 a turnpike road. Etymology: abbr. of TURNPIKE 4. n. a jackknife position in diving or gymnastics. Etymology: 20th c.: orig. unkn.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pikes) Note: The form 'pike' is often used as the plural for meaning 1. 1. A pike is a large fish that lives in rivers and lakes and eats other fish. N-VAR • Pike is this fish eaten as food. N-UNCOUNT 2. In former times, a pike was a weapon consisting of a pointed blade on the end of a long pole. N-COUNT 3. When something comes down the pike, it happens or occurs. (AM INFORMAL) There have been threats to veto any legislation that comes down the pike. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Turnpike, toll-bar. 2. Spike, point. 3. Halberd, spoontoon. 4. (Ich.) Luce, true-jack.

Moby Thesaurus

Autobahn, US highway, alley, alleyway, arterial, arterial highway, arterial street, artery, autoroute, autostrada, avenue, belt highway, blind alley, boulevard, bypass, byway, camino real, carriageway, causeway, causey, chaussee, circumferential, close, corduroy road, county road, court, crescent, crest, cul-de-sac, dead-end street, dike, dirt road, drive, driveway, expressway, freeway, gravel road, highroad, highway, highways and byways, hilltop, interstate highway, knoll, lane, local road, lofty peak, main drag, main road, mews, motorway, mountaintop, parkway, pave, paved road, peak, pic, pico, pinnacle, place, plank road, point, precipice, primary highway, private road, right-of-way, ring road, road, roadbed, roadway, route nationale, row, royal road, secondary road, speedway, spur, state highway, street, summit, superhighway, terrace, thoroughfare, through street, thruway, toll road, tor, township road, turnpike, wynd