| 释义 |
▪ I. spike, n.1|spaɪk|
Also 4 spik, 6 spyke.
[ad. L. spīca fem. (rarely spīcum neut. and spīcus masc.) ear of corn, plant-spike. In branch I corresponding to It. spiga, Prov., Sp. espiga fem., OF. espi (espic), F. épi masc.; in sense 4 to OF. espic, F. spic and aspic (see spick n.2, aspic2), It. spigo, Sp. espliego masc., also MDu. spike, spijc, Du. spijk, G. spieke fem. (also masc. in variant forms).]
I.
1. An ear of grain. Chiefly poet.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xiii. 180 Bote yf þe sed þat sowen is in þe sloh sterue, Shal neuere spir springen vp ne spik on strawe curne.
1601Holland Pliny xviii. vii. I. 557 All kind of corne carrying spike or eare, called Frumenta. 1648Denham Cato Major Old Age iii. (1669) 33 Drawn up in rancks, and files, the bearded spikes Guard it from birds as with a stand of pikes. 1700Dryden tr. Ovid's Meleager & Atalanta 33 Suff'ring not their yellow Beards to rear, He [sc. the wild boar] tramples down the Spikes, and intercepts the Year. 1730–46Thomson Autumn 166 The gleaners spread around, and here and there, Spike after spike, their scanty harvest pick. 1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 83 Take a spike (or as it is frequently called, an ear) of wheat. 1798Coleridge Three Graves iii. ii, On the hedge-elms in the narrow lane Still swung the spikes of corn. 1860Adler Prov. Poet. xvi. 359 A man without love is worth no more than the spike without grain. 1875[see spica 4].
b. Astr. the virgin's spike [tr. L. spica Virginis], = spica 3.
1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 104 A fixed sterre, called the virgins spike. 1764Maskelyne in Phil. Trans. LIV. 359 The virgin's spike, and a small star preceding it. 1802O. G. Gregory Treat. Astron. vi. 109 On the 8th of April, 1801, at what hour will the star called virgin's spike be on the meridian of London?
c. The receptacle in which the grains of maize are fixed.
1800Med. Jrnl. IV. 249 From the young fresh stalks, as well as from the spikes of India corn, a true sugar can be extracted. 1809A. Henry Trav. 134 I was requested not to break the spikes. Ibid., The grains of maize..grow in compact cells, round a spike.
2. Bot. A form of inflorescence consisting of sessile flowers borne on an elongated simple axis.
1578Lyte Dodoens 103 Long purple, spykie knoppes like to the eares or spikes of Bistorte. 1601Holland Pliny I. 364 The head of Nardus spreadeth into certaine spikes or eares, whereby it hath a twofold use, both of spike and also of leafe. 1668Wilkins Real Char. 78 Naked stalks; and flowers in a spike. Ibid., Whose leaves are of a dark green above,..bearing a spike of flowers. 1676M. Lister in Ray's Corresp. (1848) 124 The fulminating powder, which the spikes of Muscus Lycopod. yield. 1726Flower Garden Displ. (ed. 2) Introd., Spikes, Trusses or Bunches, when the Flowers grow in such a manner as to form an Acute Cone. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Lychnis, The wild white lychnis with a bending spike of flowers. 1784Cowper Task vi. 159 Her beauteous head now set With purple spikes pyramidal. 1851Glenny Handbk. Fl. Gard. 158 The blossoms are purple, and grow in spikes at the ends of the branches. 1889Science-Gossip XXV. 122 They were beautiful trees, with their leaves..growing in thickly-set spikes.
3. attrib. and Comb., as spike-corn, spike-stalk; spike-flowered, spike-like adjs; spike-wise adv.
1601Holland Pliny I. 559 White Amel-corn, called Olyra, which is among them holden for the third sort of *Spike-corne.
1833Penny Cycl. I. 77/1 Acer spicatum, the *spike-flowered maple.
1857Henfrey Bot. §126 The term catkin..is applied to the..*spike-like inflorescence of the Willow, Poplar, Birch. 1880Jefferies Gt. Estate 136 Beside them a rolled spike-like bloom not yet unfolded.
1796Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 83 *Spike-stalk,..a long, rough, slender receptacle, upon which the flowers composing a spike are placed.
1601Holland Pliny I. 559 The graines arranged *spike-wise.
b. In some specific names of plants, as spike-cudweed, -grass, -mint, -rush (see quots. and spiked a.1 2).
1715Phil. Trans. XXIX. 355 Welted Antego *Spike-Cudweed.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 *Spike-grass, Winged, Stipa. 1771R. F. Forster Flora Amer. Sept. 4 Spike-grass, Uniola paniculata. 1856A. Gray Man. Bot. 567 Uniola,..Spike-Grass.
1731Miller Gard. Dict. Index, *Spike-mint, Spear-mint.
1829Loudon Encycl. Pl. (1836) 48 Eleocharis,..*Spike-Rush. Spike oval naked. 1859Miss Pratt Brit. Grasses 11 Spike-rush. Spikelet many-flowered, solitary, terminal.
II.
†4. French lavender (Lavandula Spica); = spick n.2 Obs.
1539Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 11 Thinges good for a colde head: Cububes: Galingale:..Pionye: Hyssope: Spyke: Yreos. 1578Lyte Dodoens 265 It is called..in English Spike and Lauender. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 729 Here bitter Worm-wood, there sweet-smelling Spike. 1611Cotgr., Spicaire, Roman Spike, or Lauender. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. i, Sweet sents of saffron, spike, calamus and cynamon. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 26 Of a strong smell, very much like Spike or Lavender.
b. oil of spike, an essential oil obtained by distillation from Lavendula Spica (and L. Stœchas), employed in painting and in veterinary medicine. (Cf. spike-oil in 7.)
1577Harrison England iii. ix. (1878) ii. 65 A most delectable and sweet oile, comparable to..oile of spike in smell, was found naturallie included in a stone. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. ii. 9, I speak not here of the oile of spike which will extende very farre this way. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. xxxiv. 49 Yellow Oker, well ground Oyle of Spike or Turpentine. 1686Plot Staffordsh. 379 They use Litharge pounded and searced fine, mixt with oyle of Spike. 1753J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery 231 The hot oils, as spike, turpentine and origanum. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 755 They are then mixed with oil of spike, and applied to the glass with camel-hair pencils. 1861Bentley Man. Bot. 610 Oil of Spike or Foreign Oil of Lavender. Ibid., L. Stœchas also yields..an essential oil, which is commonly distinguished as the True Oil of Spike.
attrib.1703Art's Improv. I. 48 You need not fear much the laying on of the Varnish the second time, provided..it be Oil of Spike Varnish.
†5. spike celtic, a species of valerian. Obs.
1540R. Jonas Byrth Mankynde 70 For this take spyke celtyke, whiche some call mary mawdelyne flower,..& sethe it in the oyle of sesamum,..& laye it on the place. 1579Langham Gard. Health (1633) 16 Seethe Spike celtike in oyle of Almonds, and a little Turpentine and dip well therein and apply it.
†6. Spikenard. Obs.—1
1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) F vj, Mary Magdalene poured upon the head of our Lorde, oyntment of pretious Spike.
7. attrib. (in sense 4), as spike-flower, spike-lavender, spike-leaf, spike-oil [cf. Du. spijkolie, G. spieköl], † spike-water.
1588L. M. tr. Bk. Dyeing 12 Take 2 pound of *spike flowers, one pound of rose marie. 1741Compl. Fam.-piece i. iv. 252 Then put to them Balm, Spike-flowers,..of each 1 Ounce.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 444 With the decoction or liquor which commeth from *Spike-Lauender. 1799G. Smith Laboratory I. 114 Temper..with oil of spike, i.e. spike-lavender. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. III. 247/1 Oil of spike lavender, or..turpentine, may be used instead of the coal-naphtha.
1750W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. III. i. 178 Boil some Lavender and *Spike-leaves.
1611Cotgr., Huile nardin, *spike oyle. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Mark xiii. 3 It was a Cruise of precious Spike-oil shaken and poured out. 1868Watts Dict. Chem. V. 399 According to Gastell, spike-oil is obtained from the leaves and stalks, true lavender-oil from the flowers, of several species of Lavendula.
1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 46 b, Take..Lauender water, *Spike water, of eche of them thre vnces. 1572in Feuillerat Rev. Q. Eliz. (1908) 175, i pynte of spike water.
▪ II. spike, n.2|spaɪk|
Also 4 spyk, 5 spyke.
[Of doubtful origin: agrees in form and meaning with MSw. spīk, spijk, Sw. and Norw. spik nail, which may be a shortened form of MLG. spîker (LG. spiker, spieker; hence G. spiker, Da. spiger, Norw. spikar), = MDu. spīker, spijcker (Du. spijker), Fris. spiker, spikker (perh. from Du. and LG.), MHG. spîcher (G. dial. speicher-): see spiker1. It is possible that these may in some way be derived from L. spīca spike n.1, as OF. espi, F. épi, Sp. and Pg. espiga have senses nearly or altogether coincident with those of ‘spike’.
The evidence for a MDu. spike n. or spiken v. is very slender: see Verdam, s.vv. The Swed. and Norw. words differ in gender from Norw. spik, Icel. spík fem., ‘splinter, thin wornout scythe’, and are prob. unconnected with this.]
1. a. A sharp-pointed piece of metal (esp. iron) or wood used for fastening things securely together; a large and strong kind of nail.
Cf. the earlier spike-nail and spiking n.
1345–6in Nicholas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 477 [Nails, called] glots, midelglots, spikes, rundnails, cloutnails [and] lednails. 1390Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 26 Pro Mlcc spyks, vj s. 1486Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 15, c lb of spykes..xxvs ijd; also for xl lb spikes. a1616Bacon Adv. Villiers Wks. 1778 II. 270 We need not borrow of any other iron for spikes, or nails to fasten them together. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xi. 53 It is strongly nailed with Spikes. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Speeks or Spikes,..great and long Iron-nails with flat Heads and of divers Lengths. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 411 In this Manner he made many Things, but especially Hooks, Staples, and Spikes. 1753Hanway Trav. ii. xvi. (1762) I. 69 Instead of iron bolts, they have spikes of deal. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 565 Fasten them together by pins, spikes, or bolts, as the case may require. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 839/2 The following table shows the amount of spikes to a mile of railroad.
b. A pointed piece of steel used for driving into the touch-hole of a cannon in order to render it unserviceable.
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 166 Some were found having spikes and hammers to cloy the cannon. 1828Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 385 There are two descriptions of spikes in the service. The common conical spike, which serves for all natures of ordnance, is 4 inches long. 1859Griffiths Artill. Man. (1862) 60 For Spiking Ordnance, two kinds of spikes are used:..The Common Spike... The Spring, or temporary spike. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 395/1 Spikes form a portion of the stores of a battery.
2. a. A sharp-pointed piece of metal (or other hard material) which is, or may be, so fixed in something that the point is turned outwards; a stout sharp-pointed projecting part of a metal object.
c1470Henry Wallace x. 42 Sa tha sam folk he send to the dep furd, Gert set the ground with scharp spykis off burd. 1532–3in E. Law Hampton Crt. Pal. (1885) 347 Item 11 spikes of Irne to stand uppon the sayd typys. 1676Wiseman Surg. Treat. v. iii. 359 In his falling he was catcht by one of those Spikes in the middle of his Wrist. 1728Chambers Cycl. s.v. Movement, The gutter'd Wheel, with Iron Spikes at bottom, wherein the Line of ordinary Clocks runs. 1791Bentham Panopt. i. Postscr. 137 But a person cannot press against the point of a spike as he could against a bar. 1820Shelley Let. M. Gisborne 35 Spain..grew dim with Empire:—With thumbscrews, wheels, with tooth and spike and jag. 1846Holtzapffel Turning II. 818 The length of files is always measured exclusively of the tang or spike, by which the file is fixed in its handle. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 83 The iron spike at the end of the baton made a hole sufficiently deep [etc.].
b. transf. A stiff sharp-pointed object or part.
1718Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 31 July, The spikes or thorns are as long and sharp as bodkins. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 38 Shoes with long points or spikes..were worn. Some of these spikes were an ell long. 1850Dickens T. Two Cities ii. i, His son was garnished with tenderer spikes [of hair]. 1868Morris Earthly Par. ii. 261 Then shot up on high A steady spike of light.
c. A young mackerel.
1884Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 298 Mackerel..six and a half or seven inches in length;..fish of this size are sometimes called ‘Spikes’.
d. Usu. in pl. One of a number of sharp-pointed metal studs driven into the sole of a cricket boot, running shoe, etc., to give a surer foothold. Also (pl.) by metonymy, a pair of spiked shoes.
1832P. Egan Bk. Sports 348/2 And all in spikes and jackets clad, Elate for vict'ry came. 1898N.Y. Tribune 23 Apr. 9/3 He was in collision with Jennings and McGann and his foot and legs were injured with their spikes. 1955R. Bannister First Four Minutes ii. 16, I suddenly noticed that my best pair of spikes had split along the side. 1976J. Wainwright Who goes Next? 29 ‘Footprints..Spiked. Now he isn't wearing spikes.’ Enfield nodded towards the corpse. ‘The two Herberts who found him—I doubt if they'll have spiked shoes.’
e. fig. A prickly resentment; anger, venom. Freq. in phr. to have (or get) the spike, to be (or become) angry or offended.
1890J. D. Robertson Gloss. Words County of Gloucester 147 ‘To have the spike’ is to be out of temper, or offended. 1895Daily News 4 Jan. 3/7 Of course Chris gets the spike (in a temper) because Sullivan had shopped him. 1922Joyce Ulysses 388 He had in his bosom a spike named Bitterness. 1960N. Hilliard Maori Girl ii. xi. 141 But you don't have to get the spike with me just for that. 1978Chicago June 166/3, I had located the spike inside him, the one that Arabs get hooked on when they detect a Jewish émigré.
f. (a) A quantity of alcohol, esp. spirits, added to a drink. U.S. slang.
1906Dialect Notes III. 157 Spike, n., alcohol, an alcoholic beverage. ‘This punch has a good big spike in it.’ 1969J. Cheever Bullet Park xiv. 189 She..returned with a bottle of whiskey and spiked her coffee... The spike steadied her hand. 1974Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 14 Aug. iii. 2 It's like chips without dips, or punch without the spike.
(b) A small quantity of a radioisotope or other substance added to a material in order to act as a tracer, reference, etc.
1959R. E. Tate in Hausner & Schumar Nucl. Fuel Elements viii. 110 Spike enrichment, in which some of the fuel elements..contain plutonium dispersed in an inert matrix, requires a high through-put of the enriched elements. 1962Analytical Chem. XXXIV. 709/2 The U233 plus U236 isotopic dilution spike is added to an unknown uranium sample. 1965Jrnl. Geophysical Res. LXX. 1844/1 Five to twenty grams of sample was dissolved in 1 N HCl, TH234 and U232 spike added, and the solution evaporated to dryness. 1976Nature 24 June 685/2 After ensuring that the spike and sample were well mixed, the cadmium was chemically extracted by ion exchange.
g. A bayonet. Mil. slang.
1928E. Blunden Undertones of War 270 The cowman now turned warrior measured out His up-and-down sans fierce ‘bundook and spike’.
h. A hypodermic needle or syringe used for the injection of an intoxicating drug; hence, the drug itself or an injection of this. slang (orig. U.S.).
[1923J. Manchon Le Slang 285 Spike, s... 30 V[ulgaire] une aiguille. ]1934Detective Fiction Weekly 21 Apr. 107/2 Both me and the twist was on junk and when they fanned us they found a spike on me but no stuff. 1953Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic in Narcotics 315 Spike, a drug. Also a hypodermic needle, an injection of a drug. 1959‘E. McBain’ Pusher viii. 383 ‘You say you shot up together? Did you both use the same syringe?’ ‘No, Annabelle had his spike, and I had mine.’ 1964Daily Tel. 25 Nov. 22/6 Among the terms used by addicts are..‘blast parties’, for groups of marijuana smokers, and ‘spikes’ for hypodermic needles. 1974J. Wainwright Evidence I shall Give xxxvii. 211 It was a mounting yearning. A craving... He needed a spike—badly! 1979P. Driscoll Pangolin xvii. 139 This punk kid, shooting amphetamines, can't find enough spikes.
i. (a) Electr. A pulse of very short duration in which a rapid increase in voltage is followed immediately by a rapid decrease; (b) a burst of electromagnetic radiation marked by short duration or great intensity, esp. one from space.
1935Arch. Neurol. & Psychiatry XXXIV. 1140 Sharp negative spikes in the record often seem to be associated with motor movements of a clonic sort. 1957Wireless World Jan. 10/2 Some of the output-signals have the form of sharp spikes, each pulse of ignition interference producing two spikes of the same polarity. 1969J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching iv. 109 Noise-voltage spikes in the earth line or at the input have to exceed about 600 mV before significant signals appear at the output. 1973T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 146 He's been under Rollo Groast's EEG countless times since first he came to ‘The White Visitation’, and all's normal-adult except for, oh once or twice perhaps a stray 50-millivolt spike off a temporal lobe.
1969Astrophysical Jrnl. Lett. CLVII. l73 Four out of five consecutive optical spikes, each reaching in some 10 days a peak of luminosity that is a factor of 2–3 above a varying background level,..have been observed for the single QSS 3C 345. 1974Nature 8 Nov. 113/1 Well known transient phenomena such as supernovae, galactic radio noise spikes. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xi. 13 The typical output of an optical laser consists of a series of spikes. 1977Sci. Amer. Oct. 53/2 Grindlay and Gursky suggested that the X-ray photons of a burst are released in a two-second ‘spike’. 1980Nature 7 Feb. 551/1 There are no clear spikes in the Kavalur bursts.
j. Journalism. A spindle on which recent newspaper stories are filed, spec. when rejected for publication.
1936B. Brooker Think of Earth ii. iii. 141 The editor picked up a spike-file from the top of the desk. 1942W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 374 He took the press association flimsy from its spike and handed it to Stevens. 1962[see copy-taster s.v. copy n. C]. 1974D. Seaman Bomb that could Lip-Read vii. 58 The P.A. copy was neatly pierced by a spike, Fleet Street's time-honoured way of giving the thumbs-down to a story.
†3. A handspike. Obs.—1
1771Act 11 Geo. III, c. 45 §7 To purchase or make..Winches, Spikes, Dams, Flood Gates and Engines for the completing and carrying on the said Navigation. 1802James Milit. Dict., Spikes, in gunnery. See Hand-Spikes.
4. slang. The workhouse. Also spec. the casual ward of a workhouse (see casual a. 9); an institution affording more or less temporary accommodation for the homeless.
1866Temple Bar XVII. 184 Let the ‘spikes’ be what they may they were a great deal better than the ‘paddingkens’. 1894D. C. Murray Making Novelist 107 To sleep in the workhouse is to go ‘on the spike’. 1900Flynt Tramps 260 The next two nights of our stay..were spent in the Notting Hill casual ward, or ‘spike’, as it is called in tramp parlance. 1903J. London People of Abyss viii. 78 On asking him what the ‘spike’ was, he answered, ‘The casual ward. It's a cant word.’ 1933‘G. Orwell’ Down & Out xxvi. 189 D'you come out o' one o' de London spikes (casual wards), eh? 1949C. Graves Ireland Revisited viii. 125 At first we did not understand thieves' slang, or that a ‘spike’ meant a workhouse. (We were told to avoid the Portsmouth ‘spike’.) 1972Times 27 Dec. 2/8 ‘If this place was not here,’ a proud articulate Glaswegian ‘dosser’ said, ‘we'd be on the road or in the reception centre, the spike. I have been in the spike for the past 11 months.’ 1980Guardian 2 Oct. 18/1 A generation ago there were half a dozen lodging houses in the town..as well as the ‘spike’ or casual ward of the workhouse.
5. attrib. and Comb.
a. Attrib., in the sense ‘resembling or formed like a spike’, as spike bit, spike bowsprit, spike gimlet, spike rod.
1766Museum Rust. VI. 392 A hole made with a spike gimblet. 1815Hist. J. Decastro I. 109 The man who had a spike bit in his hand, and would have forced the door. 1856Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 721/2 Rods of hazel, &c., split and twisted for use by the thatcher (spike rods). 1895Daily News 19 June 3/2 With nothing standing but her spike bowsprit, which was painted white.
b. In the sense ‘provided or furnished with spikes’, as spike-roller, spike-wheel.
1799A. Young Agric. Linc. 74 A capital spike-roller, which cost {pstlg}40. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 27 It is, perhaps, a more efficient implement than the spike-roller. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2267/2 Spike-wheel Propeller.
c. Misc., as spike-hole; spike-heeled, spike-helmeted, spike-horned, spike-leaved, spike-like, spike-tailed adjs.; spike-wise adv.
Also spike-drawer, spike-extractor (Knight, 1875).
1953D. Dodge To catch Thief i. 11 She was dressed for the evening; a long gown, fragile, *spike-heeled slippers, a fur wrap. 1981A. Lurie Language of Clothes iv. 106 French-speaking Canadians..negotiating the icy snow-heaped streets..in nyloned legs and spike-heeled boots.
1916R. Graves Goliath & David 6 And look, *spike-helmeted, grey, grim, Goliath straddles over him.
1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 45 They were forced to..spile the *Spike-holes.
1890W. P. Lett in Shields Big Game N. Amer. 84 There is a difference..between the branching and *spike-horned Deer.
1864G. P. Marsh Man & Nat. 109 Dead trees, especially of the *spikeleaved kinds,..are often allowed to stand until they fall of themselves.
1896Pop. Sci. Jrnl. L. 207 It was chipped..with a *spike-like stone implement.
1870North Alabamian (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) 12 Jan. 1/2 ‘Who's that gentleman, my little man?’ was asked of an urchin. ‘That one with the *spike-tailed coat?’ 1884Harper's Mag. Sept. 514/2 You needn't worry about any spike-tailed coat or clerical tie. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v., Spike-tailed grouse, the sharp-tailed..or pin-tailed grouse.
1850Browning Christmas Eve ii, I sent my elbow *spike-wise At the shutting door, and entered likewise. 1865G. Macdonald A. Forbes xxxviii, They were kept upright..by the constant application, ‘spikewise’, of the paternal elbow.
6. Special Combs.: spike-buck U.S., a buck in its first year; spike-disease, a disease affecting the leaves of certain plants and trees; spike-fiddle Mus. = rebab; spike-fish U.S., the sailfish (Histiophorus americanus); spike heel, a fashionable narrow high heel of a woman's shoe, tapering towards a point (cf. stiletto heel s.v. stiletto n. 5); hence, a spike-heeled shoe; spike-horn, (a) a deer's horn in the form of a spike; (b) a spike-buck (so spike-horn buck); spike-machine (see quot.); spike-maul, a mallet for driving in spikes; spike microphone, (colloq.) mike (see quot. 1962); spike-nose U.S. (see quot.); † spike-park slang, the grounds of a prison; spike-pole dial. (see quot. 1841); also, a pole fitted with a spike; † spike-ring (?); † spike-shot, cannon-shot having projecting spikes; spike-tail U.S., a dress-coat; spike-team U.S. (see quots.).
1860Mayne Reid Hunters' Feast xxiii, In the first year they grow in the shape of two short straight spikes; hence the name ‘*spike-bucks’ given to the animals of that age. 1897Outing XXX. 330 A tidy spike-buck splashed through a shallow.
1906Athenæum 24 Nov. 661/3 A suitable reward to any one who can discover the cause of *spike disease in sandal trees.
1940C. Sachs Hist. Mus. Instruments (1942) xii. 242 Most Islamic instruments..have no place in art music, with the exception of the Persian *spike fiddle (called rabâb or kamânǵa a‘ǵûz in the Near East)... Malay fiddles, which have preserved the old Persian name in the form rebab, are much simpler. 1974Schacht & Bosworth Legacy of Islam (ed. 2) x. 500 Al-Fārābī also provides the first description of a bowed instrument, the rabāb. This was later known in two forms, one with a separate neck, the other a spike-fiddle with a hemispherical sound-chest.
1929D. L. Moore Pandora's Letter Box xi. 205 The ‘*spike’ heel now popular is disgustingly difficult to balance on. 1950‘S. Ransome’ Deadly Miss Ashley xi. 136 A pair of sandals..featured spike heels decorated with brilliants. 1971D. C. Brown Yukon Trophy Trails ii. 31, I wanted to live in a log cabin, shoot my own steaks and never wear another pair of spike heels.
1869Amer. Nat. Dec. 552 The *spike-horn differs greatly from the common antler of the Cervus Virginianus. Ibid. 553 The first spike-horn buck was merely an accidental freak of nature. 1897Outing XXIX. 439 So the gamey spikehorn turned to bay.
1851Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 1468 2 A *spike machine. This machine is for the purpose of making wrought spikes.
1886Pall Mall G. 16 June 14/1 Two squads, the one armed with claw bars, the other with *spike mauls.
1962Symposia of Zool. Soc. VII. 8 There is also the ‘*spike’ microphone, which is extremely small, and can be driven through hard material to record sounds in an inner chamber. 1966Economist 3 Dec. 1029/2 Though there is no federal law against bugging or wire-tapping per se, the Supreme Court held that the spike microphone driven through the wall of Mr Black's hotel room constituted physical trespass.
1950Washington Post 20 Mar. d1/4 Police had slipped the ‘*spike mike’ into a wall common to the adjoining premises. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird xvi. 248 No one in sneakers with spike mikes and tapes and transmitters?
1891Cent. Dict., *Spike-nose, the pike-perch, or wall-eyed pike, Stizostedion vitreum.
1837Dickens Pickw. xlii, No danger of overwalking yourself here—*spike park—grounds pretty—romantic but not extensive.
1841Hartshorne Salop. Ant. Gloss., *Spike-pole, a rafter eight feet long, bound with iron at its end,..used in ‘tying’ dangerous places in the roof of a pit. 1848Thoreau Maine W. (1894) 57 He uses..a long spike-pole, with a screw at the end of the spike to make it hold.
1597Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees, 1860) 267 One *spike-ringe, j paire of goulde weights, and an oulde halbarte.
a1661Fuller Worthies, Kent ii. (1662) 61 They have Round- double- head- Bur- *spike- Crow- Bar- Case- Chain shot.
1894Howells Trav. fr. Altruria 139 He says he isn't dressed for dinner; left his *spike-tail in the city.
1848Bartlett Dict. Amer. 324 *Spike team, a waggon drawn by three horses, or by two oxen and a horse, the latter leading the oxen or span of horses. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 178, I got there with a loaded waggon, and a ‘spike’ team—three mules.
Sense 2 i (b) in Dict. becomes 2 i (c). Add: [2.] [i.] (b) Any sharp narrow peak on a graph representing the sudden rapid increase of some parameter to a high level immediately followed by a rapid decrease; also used of an event, brief period of activity, etc., such as might be so represented.
1961in Webster. 1970O. Sacks Migraine (1981) x. 205 It has been impossible to define any EEG abnormality which bears a specific relation to migraine, as wave-and-spike patterns do to epilepsy. 1978Nature 11 May 141/1 A series of brief episodes of relatively heavy influx of tree pollen (‘spikes’), separated by longer intervals with little or no exotic pollen. 1988New Yorker 26 Oct. 70/2 The five-minute spike of greatest downpour occurred at about one-thirty.
(d) Comm. A sudden rapid increase, esp. of prices.
1982Times 6 Sept. 13/7 Technology issues were joined by the big oil companies in the upward spike of prices. 1983W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 10 Apr. 16 As a noun, spike now figures prominently in the lingo of economists. It has replaced peak in discussions of lofty upthrusts on charts. 1988Sunday Times 10 Apr. d1/2 Many analysts believe that an upward ‘spike’ into the range of DM3.15 to DM3.20 is quite possible.
k. Volleyball. An act or instance of spiking the ball. See *spike v.1 7 a.
[1933R. E. Laveaga Volley Ball vi. 97 The second method or the running spike attack is essential.] 1934Official Volleyball Rules 69 Three men on the Texas team would jump in a group to block the spike. 1953C. M. Emery Mod. Volleyball iii. 29 The spike should be made as the body reaches to maximum height. 1964Volleyball (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 2) 20/1 The counter to the ‘smash’ or ‘spike’ is the ‘block’. 1978G. Wright Illustr. Handbk. Sporting Terms 67/3 Because of the net's height, the player making the spike is invariably in mid-air. 1989Times 24 Nov. 44/3 Only those in the front box may ‘block’ at the net an opponent's ‘spike’ with hands raised above the net.
l. A segment of hair shaped artificially into an upright point on the head, as part of a distinctive hairstyle (usu. in pl.); a hairstyle characterized by these.
1981Washington Post 22 Jan. dc1/4 (caption) The punk look includes leather jackets and hair combed into spikes. 1983Times 5 July 8/8 Gels can be used on damp or dry hair for slicked-back styles, sleek bobs and spikes. 1983Harpers & Queen Aug. 70/3 The Inn Place... Packed with quiffs, spikes and non-stop dancers. 1987Sunday Sun (Brisbane) 1 Mar. (TV Suppl.) 9/1 Johnson..sported a new haircut when he returned—a sort of spike.
▪ III. † spike, n.3 Obs.
= spike-hole.
1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 93/2 He perceived one of the enemies leveling at the window or spike at which he stood. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. ix. 64 Where from out of a Spike, they slewe foure of our men. Ibid. iii. viii. 317 A spike or window that..commands that part of the barbicon of the Castle.
▪ IV. spike, n.4 slang.
[Back-formation f. spiky a.2 4: a use of spike n.2]
An Anglican who advocates or practises Anglo-Catholic ritual and observances.
1902Church Times 14 Mar. 320/2 A priest is wanted for this parish. A hard-working Catholic. Not a ‘spike’. 1914J. W. Legg Eng. Church Life 159 It would seem that there were spikes (as Dr. Bright of Christ-church used to call them) in 1768. 1922E. Raymond Tell England ii. iii. 204 My altar has generally been two ration boxes, marked ‘Unsweetened Milk’, but the spike has surrounded it. And look here.., the spike knows how to die. He just asks for his absolution and his last sacrament, and—and dies. 1930Sayers & ‘Eustace’ Docs. in Case i. 37 He turned out to be an earnest and cultivated middle-aged spike from Keble. 1952R. Macaulay Let. 23 May (1961) 318 Is she one who would be shocked at seeing communicants at High Mass? There have always been those there, I gather; and ‘spikes’ don't like it. 1963C. Mackenzie My Life & Times II. 203 In that summer of 1897 Sandys Wason was still a deacon... It was he who started using ‘spike’ for an extremist... One can still be spiked up; one can still talk of spikiness, and in Anglican circles be understood. 1980A. N. Wilson Healing Art iv. 47 There were several other effigies of famous spikes, including the legendary Father Tooth.
Hence as v.2 trans. with up: to make (more) ‘spiky’ or High Church; to enliven with ritual; also ˈspikery, ‘spiky’ character or behaviour.
1923C. Mackenzie Parson's Progress xvi. 214 Was it really worth while trying to spike up the Rector and his services and his flock? 1958B. Pym Glass of Blessings iii. 48 A new vicar trying to spike things up a bit. 1965C. E. Pocknee Parson's Handbk. (ed. 13) vii. 85 There is no ancient authority for the custom of sitting for the psalms. This is a slovenly piece of modern ‘spikery’. 1972C. Stephenson Merrily on High ii. 35, I was encouraged by the high church ladies who would listen with amusement and interest to my plans for ‘spiking’ up the church. 1980A. N. Wilson Healing Art ix. 110 For all her spikery, there would always be a part of herself which found it impossible to shake off the freedoms of scepticism.
▪ V. spike, v.1|spaɪk|
[f. spike n.2 Cf. MSw. and Sw. spika to nail; also LG. spikern, Du. spijkeren.]
1. trans. With up:
a. To fasten or close firmly with spikes or strong nails.
1624Capt. Smith Virginia v. 198 He went to seeke for a wracke they reported lay vnder water with her hatches spiked vp.
†b. spec. = sense 2. Obs.
1644Prynne & Walker Fiennes' Trial App. 34 Where⁓upon himselfe, and one Harris,..did spike up the touch⁓holes of their Canons to make them unservisable to the enemy. 1672J. Lacey tr. Tacquet's Milit. Archit. 50 If they cannot carry away their Guns, they must spike them up, by driving Nails in their Touch-holes. 1747Gentl. Mag. XVII. 308 We spiked up 15 field pieces, which we could not get off. 1799Hull Advertiser 7 Sept. 1/4 Helder Point was last night evacuated and the guns in it spiked up.
†c. spec. (See quot.) Obs.—0
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Spiking up the Ordnance, is fastning a Coin or Quoin with Spikes to the Deck, close to the Breech of the Carriages of the Great Guns, that they may keep close and firm to the Ship-sides and not break loose when the Ship Rolls.
d. To set up as on a spike.
1742Young Nt. Th. iv. 771 They..Spike up their inch of reason, on the point Of philosophic wit, call'd argument.
2. To render (a gun) unserviceable by driving a spike into the touch-hole; also, to block or fill up (the touch-hole) with a spike. (Cf. 1 b.) Also fig., esp. in phr. to spike (some)one's guns.
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2270/5 Captain Archburnett..made himself Master of their Guns, which he ordered to be dismounted and spiked. 1700Rycaut Hist. Turks v. iii. 150 In one of which [sallies] they spiked or nailed three Pieces of Cannon. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., Among Mariners, the Touch-hole of a Gun is said To be spiked, when Nails are purposely driven into it, so that no Use can be made of that Gun by an Enemy. 1778Orme Milit. Trans. Ind. II. i. 62 Ensign Pischard..seized and spike the four pieces of cannon. 1811Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) VII. 269 Unfortunately the guns in the battery were not spiked, or otherwise destroyed or injured. 1848Exchequer Rep. II. 174 The defendant.. spiked the guns, and placed sentinels at the doors.
fig.1823T. Creevey Let. 11 Mar. in Creevey Papers (1903) II. iii. 66 He has himself entirely spiked his guns in the House of Commons. 1862E. Hall Jrnl. 9 Mar. in O. A. Sherrard Two Victorian Girls (1966) ii. 291 He proceeded to kiss her forehead... She should have spiked the first gun instead of leaving it to clear the way for the advance of others. 1871Lowell Study Wind. (1886) 37 All the batteries of noise are spiked. 1927New Republic 21 Sept. 122/2 They have flitted from one foolish suggestion to the other. The silliest of these was that, to spike the third-term objection, Mr. Coolidge would agree, if elected in 1928, to resign at the expiration of his eighth year of continued occupancy. 1953L. P. Hartley Go-Between 16 My enemies would be off their guard, they would never suspect danger from a gun they had so thoroughly spiked. 1971S. E. Morison European Discovery Amer.: Northern Voy. xiv. 469 It remained for Samuel de Champlain to spike the legend of a City of Norumbega, storied like a New Jerusalem.
3. To fix or secure by means of long nails or spikes. Chiefly with preps., as on, to.
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 255 Pin'd or spiked down to the pieces of Oak on which they lye. Ibid., [To] spike or pin the Planks to them. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 102 Scantling of the same Size..will answer effectually, by pinning and spiking the Grooves on the corner Pile. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 120 By spiking or bolting each piece [of timber] on both sides of the joint. 1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §83 Ceiling joists, joggled on,..and spiked..at each end, to the top of the plate. 1875Martin Winding Mach. 6 Four vertical 3-in. planks are spiked into the joints of the lining of the pit.
4. a. To make sharp like a spike. rare—0.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To Spike, faire pointu; encloüer. 1736Ainsworth i, To spike, or make sharp at the end, spico, spiculo.
b. To provide, fit, or stud with spikes.
1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 139 Too much also of our English Prose is spik'd over with keen Cynicks. 1777Sir A. Campbell in C. H. Walcott Life (1898) 32, I am lodged in a dungeon..doubly planked and spiked on every side. 1847Tennyson Princ. iv. 188 His brows Had sprouted, and the branches..grimly spiked the gates. 1850‘Bat’ Cricket Man. 50 It is a good plan to have those shoes spiked which have been worn.
5. a. To pierce with, or as with, a spike. Also refl.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To spike himself, or fall upon spikes, tomber sur des pointes de fer.
1837Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Spectre Tappington, Charles drank his coffee and spiked some half-dozen eggs. 1884Browning Ferishtah 122 When cold from over-mounts spikes through and through Blood, bone and marrow.
b. spec. In certain sports, to injure (another player or competitor) by means of spiked shoes.
1867Athlete for 1866, 13 Lord Jersey, a good third, not⁓withstanding having been accidentally spiked by one of the competitors. 1886Shaw Cash. Byron's Prof. (1901) 197 ‘What does spiking mean?’ said Lydia. ‘Treading on a man's foot with spiked boots,’ replied Lord Worthington.
c. To lace (a drink) with alcohol; to fortify (beer, etc.) by the addition of spirits. Also transf. slang (orig. U.S.).
1889L. Pendleton In Wiregrass xviii. 201 Water from biled hops an' poke root, an' 's sweetened wi' 'lasses and spiked wi' good strong whiskey. 1900Dialect Notes II. 63 Spike, to fortify a drink by adding wine or spirits. 1915Ibid. IV. 229 Spike, to flavor with wine or whiskey, as ‘She spikes her cakes.’ 1941J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 52 Spike, (bar) add liquor to a drink. 1952B. Malamud Natural 24 A crushed cocoanut [sic] drink which he privately spiked with a shot from a new bottle. 1962Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 14 Oct. 24/1 Spike a béchamel sauce with Parmesan cheese. 1980G. Thompson Murder Mystery (1981) xxii. 175 She made tea, which he spiked with bourbon.
d. Of a newspaper editor: to reject (a story or part of one) as by filing it on a spike (spike n.2 2 j).
1908A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger v. vii. 263 Tiny little scrap of news..copied out a dozen times by Mr. Issy Jago and left..at the offices of as many newspapers. Seven sub-editors ‘spiked’ it, [etc.]. 1940W. P. Crozier Jrnl. 9 Dec. in D. Ayerst Guardian (1971) xxxiv. 539 E.A.M. disgruntled because I spiked pars (for London letter) on last night's bombing. 1950C. M. Kornbluth in Astounding Science Fiction July 150/2 The M[anaging] E[ditor]..decided nobody would believe it. He spiked the story on the ‘dead’ hook. 1961B. Wells Day Earth caught Fire vii. 115 This is the newsroom, the place where all the best stories are spiked. 1978L. Heren Growing up on The Times viii. 283, I discovered that my story had been spiked. It was the first and only time the paper had questioned my judgment, and I felt badly about it.
e. intr. To inject another or (for refl.) oneself with an intoxicating drug. Also trans. and fig.
1935N. Ersine Underworld & Prison Slang 69 Spike, to take a shot of dope. ‘He spiked about an hour ago.’ 1971J. Mandelkau Buttons v. 68 Almost immediately I was spiked with wine and acid. 1973T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 47 Kevin Spectro will take his syringe and spike away a dozen times tonight..to sedate Fox (his generic term for any patient). 1974Guardian 28 Jan. 11/5 The addicts..'ll sometime try and spike you, try and get you mainlining too. 1977‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy ii. 46 The girl..alone and spiked with tiredness.
f. To enrich (a nuclear reactor or its fuel) with a particular isotope; to add a small proportion of some distinctive material to.
1956Ann. Rev. Nucl. Sci. VI. 330 A natural uranium power reactor of this size might not become critical, so that the reactor will be ‘spiked’ with a few enriched elements. 1959F. G. Foote in Hausner & Schumar Nucl. Fuel Elements v. 78 The uranium can be spiked with either plutonium or U233. 1971New Scientist 13 May 386/2 Early work in Britain on spiking enriched uranium with plutonium as a possible fuel for Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors. 1974Nature 1 Feb. 310/2 The homogenised mixture was spiked with a known volume of a solution containing 1 µg ml-1 of the N-nitroso compound. 1976Lancet 4 Dec. 1223/1 Concentrations were measured against cadmium standards..prepared from blood spiked with cadmium chloride standard solution. 1977Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 31/2 Silkwood had slipped a vial of plutonium into her vagina or rectum, then used a syringe to spike her samples at home.
6. To drive away with or as with spikes.
1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such xviii. 346 To urge on that account that we should spike away the peaceful foreigner.
7. intr. To rise in a spike; to protrude angularly.
1958Listener 18 Sept. 418/2 High mounds of rubble and tangled, bombed machinery which spiked into the air like the legs of dead animals. 1975N. Nicholson Wednesday Early Closing i. 21 St. George's steeple spikes up against the sky, graceful as a larch tree and bold as Blackpool Tower.
Sense 7 in Dict. becomes 8. Add: [5.] g. To plant a concealed microphone in (a place); to bug, esp. with a spike microphone. Also in extended use. slang.
1974‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xvii. 145 Clear a foreign letter box, prime a safe house, watch someone's back, spike an embassy... You might think he was acting on instructions from the fifth floor. Ibid. xxi. 172 A one-time operation to spike a pair of Belgian arms dealers. 1982Verbatim Spring 2/2 Spike, to tap a telephone, open mail, plant a microphone. 1983D. Gethin Wyatt vi. 38 Quittenden's plumbers..were the crack team who could spike a high security building in under an hour. 1984Christian Science Monitor 27 Apr. 32/1 Police..spiked the walls of the besieged building with microphones.
7. a. Volleyball. To strike (the ball) sharply downward into the opposing court, at a speed and angle which makes return difficult. Also intr.
1922Official Volley Ball Rules 18 A player may not ‘spike’ or ‘kill’ the ball when he is playing a back position. 1964Volleyball (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (ed. 2) 29 ‘Rotation’ drills are very useful in volleyball... A sets the ball up, B spikes, C retrieves, then sets, A spikes, B retrieves, and so on. 1989Times 24 Nov. 44/1 Noel Despaigne..strikes the ball downwards—or spikes it in the parlance of the game—from a height of about 11 feet at something approaching 100mph.
b. Amer. Football. To throw (the ball) down hard on its end, causing it to bounce up spectacularly, esp. in triumph after scoring a touchdown.
1976Webster's Sports Dict. 411/2 Spike,..to throw the ball down hard especially in the end zone after scoring a touchdown. 1977Washington Post 20 Sept. d5/4 Bryant was given his touchdown too—and a penalty against the Ducks..for spiking the ball in anger when he thought at first he had been denied. 1985Los Angeles Times 26 Nov. iii. 5/2 Denver tight end Clarence Kay caught a touchdown pass and started to spike the ball, but Rod Martin tipped it out of his hands. 1989Boston Globe 10 Sept. 77/5 We haven't had a delay-of-game call other than when Ray Alexander spiked the ball.
▪ VI. spike, v.2|spaɪk|
[f. spike n.1 2.]
intr. Of plants: To form a spike or spikes of flowers. Also with up.
1711Phil. Trans. XXVII. 377 The last and the preceding Summer it spiked very plentifully in Chelsea Garden. 1852Beck's Florist 234 If a Hollyhock do not ‘spike up’ well..it cannot be called ‘first rate’. |