spike

Definitions

1. 1.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.
2. 2.An ear of corn or grain.
3. 3.(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 (Zoöl.), 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.]
4. 4.To fasten with spikes, or long, large nails; as, to spike down planks.
5. 5.To set or furnish with spikes.
6. 6.To fix on a spike. [R.] Young.
7. 7.To stop the vent of (a gun or cannon) by driving a spike nail, or the like into it.
8. 8.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.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "spike" mean?
• What is another word for "spike"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is spike.

• What is 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 called?
• What is to fasten with spikes, or long, large nails; as, to spike down planks called?
• What is to stop the vent of (a gun or cannon) by driving a spike nail, or the like into it called?