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spike


7 definitions found

spike - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Spike \Spike\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spiked; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Spiking.]
     1. To fasten with spikes, or long, large nails; as, to spike
        down planks.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To set or furnish with spikes.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To fix on a spike. [R.] --Young.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To stop the vent of (a gun or cannon) by driving a spike
        nail, or the like into it.
        [1913 Webster]
        [1913 Webster]

  Spike \Spike\, n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D.
     spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel. sp[imac]k; all perhaps
     from L. spica a point, an ear of grain; but in the sense of
     nail more likely akin to E. spoke of a wheel. Cf. Spine.]
     1. A sort of very large nail; also, a piece of pointed iron
        set with points upward or outward.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Anything resembling such a nail in shape.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He wears on his head the corona radiata . . .; the
              spikes that shoot out represent the rays of the sun.
                                                    --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. An ear of corn or grain.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Bot.) A kind of flower cluster in which sessile flowers
        are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Spike grass (Bot.), either of two tall perennial American
        grasses (Uniola paniculata, and Uniola latifolia)
        having broad leaves and large flattened spikelets.
  
     Spike rush. (Bot.) See under Rush.
  
     Spike shell (Zool.), 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.]
        [1913 Webster]

  Spike \Spike\, n. [Cf. G. spieke, L. spica an ear of grain. See
     Spikenard.] (Bot.)
     Spike lavender. See Lavender.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]

spike - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  spike
      n 1: a transient variation in voltage or current
      2: sports equipment consisting of a sharp point on the sole of a
         shoe worn by athletes; "spikes provide greater traction"
      3: fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn [syn: ear,
         spike, capitulum]
      4: (botany) an indeterminate inflorescence bearing sessile
         flowers on an unbranched axis
      5: a sharp rise followed by a sharp decline; "the seismograph
         showed a sharp spike in response to the temblor"
      6: a very high narrow heel on women's shoes [syn: spike heel,
         spike, stiletto heel]
      7: each of the sharp points on the soles of athletic shoes to
         prevent slipping (or the shoes themselves); "the second
         baseman sharpened his spikes before every game"; "golfers'
         spikes damage the putting greens"
      8: a sharp-pointed projection along the top of a fence or wall
         (or a dinosaur)
      9: a long, thin sharp-pointed implement (wood or metal); "one of
         the spikes impaled him"
      10: any holding device consisting of a rigid, sharp-pointed
         object; "the spike pierced the receipts and held them in
         order" [syn: spike, spindle]
      11: a large stout nail; "they used spikes to fasten the rails to
         a railroad tie"
      v 1: stand in the way of
      2: pierce with a sharp stake or point; "impale a shrimp on a
         skewer" [syn: transfix, impale, empale, spike]
      3: secure with spikes
      4: bring forth a spike or spikes; "my hyacinths and orchids are
         spiking now" [syn: spike, spike out]
      5: add alcohol to (beverages); "the punch is spiked!" [syn:
         spike, lace, fortify]
      6: manifest a sharp increase; "the voltage spiked"

spike - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  spike
  
     <jargon> To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a
     (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result.
     The word is used in several industries; telephone engineers
     refer to spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the relay
     in either the closed or open state, and railroaders refer to
     spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved.  In
     programming environments it normally refers to a temporary
     change, usually for testing purposes (as opposed to a
     permanent change, which would be called hard-coded).
  
     (1999-10-18)
  

spike - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  spike
   v.
  
     1. To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes
     temporary) device that forces a specific result. The word is used in
     several industries; telephone engineers refer to spiking a relay by
     inserting a pin to hold the relay in either the closed or open state,
     and railroaders refer to spiking a track switch so that it cannot be
     moved. In programming environments it normally refers to a temporary
     change, usually for testing purposes (as opposed to a permanent
     change, which would be called hardwired).
  
     2. [borderline techspeak] A visible peak in an otherwise rather
     constant graph (e.g. a sudden surge in line voltage, an unexpected
     short "high" on a logical line in a circuit). Hackers frequently use
     this for a sudden short increase in some quantity such as system load
     or network traffic.
  

spike - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  211 Moby Thesaurus words for "spike":
     adulterate, ament, annul, auger, auricle, baffle, balk, bastardize,
     bayonet, bite, blast, block, bore, bramble, brave, brier, bristle,
     broach, bugger, bung, burr, cactus, cancel, capitulum, catchweed,
     catkin, challenge, check, check valve, checkmate, circumvent,
     cleavers, cob, cock, cone, confound, confront, contaminate,
     contravene, cork, corncob, corrupt, corymb, counter, counteract,
     countermand, countersink, counterwork, cripple, cross, cut, cyme,
     dagger, dash, de-energize, debase, debilitate, defeat, defy,
     denaturalize, denature, destroy, dilute, dirk, disable, disarm,
     discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, disenable, dish, disrupt,
     doctor, doctor up, drain, drill, drug, ear, ear of corn, elude,
     empierce, enfeeble, equipage, faucet, fix, flummox, foil, fortify,
     four-in-hand, frustrate, goose grass, gore, gouge, gouge out,
     hamstring, head, hole, honeycomb, hors de combat, impale,
     inactivate, incapacitate, kibosh, knife, knock the chocks, lace,
     lame, lance, lid, maim, mealie, nail, needle, nettle, nonplus,
     nullify, pair, panicle, peg, penetrate, perforate, perplex, picket,
     pierce, pike, pin, pine cone, pine needle, pink, plug, plunge in,
     poison, pollute, poniard, prick, prickle, prong, punch, puncture,
     put, queer, queer the works, quill, raceme, randem, ream, ream out,
     riddle, rig, ruin, run through, saber, sabotage, scotch, sea cock,
     skewer, spadix, span, spear, spicule, spiculum, spigot, spike team,
     spikelet, spile, spill, spine, spit, spoil, stab, stake, stick,
     sticker, stiletto, stonewall, stop, stopgap, stopper, stopple,
     strengthen, strobile, stump, sword, tamper with, tandem, tap, team,
     thistle, thorn, three-up, thwart, thyrse, transfix, transpierce,
     treenail, trepan, trephine, turnout, umbel, unfit, unicorn, upset,
     valve, verticillaster, void, water, water down, weaken, wing,
     wreck, yucca