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SPIKE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Sports equipment consisting of a sharp point on the sole of a shoe worn by athletes
Example:
spikes provide greater traction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
sports equipment (equipment needed to participate in a particular sport)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spike"):
climber; climbing iron; crampon; crampoon (an iron spike attached to the shoe to prevent slipping on ice when walking or climbing)
piton (a metal spike with a hole for a rope; mountaineers drive it into ice or rock to use as a hold)
pricket (a sharp metal spike to hold a candle)
Holonyms ("spike" is a part of...):
shoe (footwear shaped to fit the foot (below the ankle) with a flexible upper of leather or plastic and a sole and heel of heavier material)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A large stout nail
Example:
they used spikes to fasten the rails to a railroad tie
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
nail (a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener)
Derivation:
spike (secure with spikes)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Any holding device consisting of a rigid, sharp-pointed object
Example:
the spike pierced the receipts and held them in order
Synonyms:
spike; spindle
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
holding device (a device for holding something)
Derivation:
spike (secure with spikes)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A long, thin sharp-pointed implement (wood or metal)
Example:
one of the spikes impaled him
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
implement (instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end)
Derivation:
spike (pierce with a sharp stake or point)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A sharp-pointed projection along the top of a fence or wall (or a dinosaur)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Each of the sharp points on the soles of athletic shoes to prevent slipping (or the shoes themselves)
Example:
golfers' spikes damage the putting greens
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
point (sharp end)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spike"):
gaff (a sharp metal spike or spur that is fastened to the leg of a gamecock)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A very high narrow heel on women's shoes
Synonyms:
spike; spike heel; stiletto heel
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
heel (the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation)
Sense 8
Meaning:
A transient variation in voltage or current
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
electrical discharge (a discharge of electricity)
Derivation:
spike (manifest a sharp increase)
Sense 9
Meaning:
A sharp rise followed by a sharp decline
Example:
the seismograph showed a sharp spike in response to the temblor
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
rise (a growth in strength or number or importance)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(botany) an indeterminate inflorescence bearing sessile flowers on an unbranched axis
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
inflorescence (the flowering part of a plant or arrangement of flowers on a stalk)
Meronyms (parts of "spike"):
spadix (the fleshy axis of a spike often surrounded by a spathe)
Domain category:
botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting plants
Hypernyms ("spike" is a kind of...):
fruit (the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spike"):
mealie (an ear of corn)
Holonyms ("spike" is a part of...):
corn; Indian corn; maize; Zea mays (tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times)
Derivation:
spike (bring forth a spike or spikes)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they spike ... he / she / it spikes
Past simple: spiked
Past participle: spiked
-ing form: spiking
Sense 1
Meaning:
Manifest a sharp increase
Example:
the voltage spiked
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
increase (become bigger or greater in amount)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
spike (a transient variation in voltage or current)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Add alcohol to (beverages)
Example:
the punch is spiked!
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Domain category:
cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Bring forth a spike or spikes
Example:
my hyacinths and orchids are spiking now
Synonyms:
spike; spike out
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
develop (grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
spike (fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Secure with spikes
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
spike (a large stout nail)
spike (any holding device consisting of a rigid, sharp-pointed object)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Pierce with a sharp stake or point
Example:
impale a shrimp on a skewer
Synonyms:
empale; impale; spike; transfix
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
pierce; thrust (penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spike"):
pin (pierce with a pin)
spear (pierce with a spear)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
spike (a long, thin sharp-pointed implement (wood or metal))
Sense 6
Meaning:
Stand in the way of
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "spike" is one way to...):
banish; bar; relegate (expel, as if by official decree)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
A number of foreground stars in our Milky Way can be seen in the image, identified by their diffraction spikes.
(Hubble Surveys Gigantic Galaxy, NASA)
Spikes in AFM cases, primarily in children, have coincided in time and location with outbreaks of EV-D68 and a related enterovirus, EV-A71.
(Enterovirus antibodies detected in acute flaccid myelitis patients, National Institutes of Health)
The earth round the spike had been left on the table, and a second sample was loosened and fell in the bedroom.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They've also noted sudden spikes of methane, but the science team knows very little about how long these transient plumes last or why they're different from the seasonal patterns.
(Curiosity Detects Unusually High Methane Levels, NASA)
A genus of filamentous, enveloped viruses with glycoprotein surface spikes, in the family Filoviridae.
(Ebola Virus, NCI Thesaurus)
"At best, adult frogs normally grow back only a featureless, thin, cartilaginous spike," says senior author Michael Levin, developmental biologist at the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University.
(Scientists Help Frogs to Regenerate Their Limbs with Bioreactor Device, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Penitentes are tall sharp-edged blades and spikes made of snow and ice that point towards the midday sun.
(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
You will hurt yourself, Miss Bertram, she cried; you will certainly hurt yourself against those spikes; you will tear your gown; you will be in danger of slipping into the ha-ha.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Levers and purchases fascinated him, and his mind roved backward to hand-spikes and blocks and tackles at sea.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Words used to describe 'sharp' feelings include 'like a knife,' 'like a spike,' 'jabbing,' or 'like jolts.'
(NPS - Tell Us How Sharp Your Pain Feels, NCI Thesaurus)
