Pike

[pahyk] /paɪk/

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 of the Great Lakes is now extinct.
2.
any of various superficially similar fishes, as the walleye or .
[pahyk] /paɪk/
noun
1.
a shafted weapon having a pointed head, formerly used by infantry.
verb (used with object), piked, piking.
2.
to pierce, wound, or kill with or as with a pike.
[pahyk] /paɪk/
noun
1.
a toll road or highway; road.
2.
a or tollgate.
3.
the toll paid at a tollgate.
Idioms
4.
come down the pike, Informal. to appear or come forth:
the greatest idea that ever came down the pike.
[pahyk] /paɪk/
noun, Chiefly British.
1.
a hill or mountain with a pointed summit.
[pahyk] /paɪk/
noun
1.
a sharply pointed projection or spike.
2.
the pointed end of anything, as of an arrow or a spear.
[pahyk] /paɪk/
verb (used without object), piked, piking. Older Slang.
1.
to go, leave, or move along quickly.
[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.
Compare (def 10), 1 (def 13).
[pahyk] /paɪk/
noun
1.
James Albert, 1913–69, U.S. Protestant Episcopal clergyman, lawyer, and author.
2.
Zebulon Montgomery
[zeb-yoo-luh n] /ˈzɛb yʊ lən/ (Show IPA), 1779–1813, U.S. general and explorer.
/paɪk/
noun (pl) pike, 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
/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
verb
3.
(transitive) to stab or pierce using a pike
/paɪk/
noun
1.
short for turnpike (sense 1)
/paɪk/
noun
1.
(Northern English, dialect) a pointed or conical hill
/paɪk/
adjective
1.
(of the body position of a diver) bent at the hips but with the legs straight
n.

“highway,” 1812 shortening of turnpike.

“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.

“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.”

“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.”

Related Terms

come down the pike