Pike

A look; a glance. "Take a pike at that box (safe) for a bug (hidden alarm) before you lather it up (make the soap ream to hold explosives)."

- american underworld dictionary - 1950

Pike is also the young private in Dad's Army who is often called a "stupid boy" by Captain Mainwaring. He is played by Ian Lavender.

As well as this, Captain Pike was the first commander of the Starship Enterprise in the first pilot, which was rejected. He was later shown in the episode 'The Menagerie' but has been disabled by delta radiation. He sacrificed himself to save some cadets when an engine exploded, but was restored by the Talosians when Spock broke General Order 7, risking the death penalty so that Captain Pike sould be restored by the Talosians' amazing mental illusions. Basically, 'The Menagerie' is an excuse to use footage from 'The Cage' in a new plot.

Pike is a object oriented programming language, with a C-like syntax. The language is based on concepts from LPC, which is a language internally used in LPMUD. Due to licencing issues, the code from LPC could not be used directly. Thus, in 1994, µLPC was created, using the ideas from LPC, into a product released under the GPL. In 1996, it was given the name Pike, to be better suited for commercial functions.

Pike is the central language used in the web server Roxen WebServer. Documentation and more information can be found at the site: http://pike.ida.liu.se/

A pike is a long (3-6.5 metre), pointed stick used en masse to keep an advancing force at a distance. The idea originally came from spears, (this is why Roman spears were so long). From the age of Alexander up until the practicality of black powder weapons, the pike was very popular. The pike had been an infantry’s weapon of choice against cavalry. Typically, a pike would be used by every man in the first three (give or take) rows of infantrymen. The pike was held about at a 20° angle to keep horses from jamming through the lines. With this three row deep defense, one could safely bring out archers. Archers were always a prime target, because their weapons were not those of close quarters combat, and they had usually no armor. If you were an archer, pikes are your friend.

The pike was extremely useful in wickedly smiting forward advancing heathens, but if you got flanked...dizamn. Pikes were quite the immobile weapon, and hinders the fluidity of your forces. That's their only real pitfall, as far as I can tell.

Note: If you've seen Braveheart, then you've seen pikes. Remember when they hid those big ass sticks when the horsies were advancing, then when they got real close, skewered them? Those were poles were an example of pikes.

The first weapon that could break the Feudal charge, the Pike was mainly used by the Flemish Mercenaries in the 15th century. It revolutionised warfare, and spread quickly. Formations of Pikemen were almost impossible to break unless you flanked them, and were normally combined with a rear or flank rank of archers to protect them from such. Pikemen normally went in about five ranks, so the last pikeman's weapon only about a foot from the arms of the front.

As it spread, many tricky and clever tactics were created to go with the long, strong shaft of wood and metal.

One of the most efficient tactics with the pike was not actually using them until the time was right. You would find a patch of long grass for your archers, get some scouts to drop a few pikes while the enemy slept, wait 'till the battle started and move an immobile unit (like archers) in. Of course, archers are prime targets for the opponent's cavalary and infantry- so they will be charged.

Now drop your bow and lift the pikes.

As horses can't slow well, and nor can angry, running men carrying very pointy things, you will probably manage to skewer your foe before they get a good slash in.

Other common tacics were ones like the use of it in charges- this tactic was hard to use properly, but with a good commander and precision timing, could reap units. Mostly used against other immobile units, the Pike would, unfortunately, have to be held further back to stop one accidently digging it into the earth and pole-vaulting. This would mean it would be difficult to use against other pikemen.

Charging pikemen front-on was general suicide. The only way to take them from the front was using units which could outrange the wall of points, such as crossbowmen and archers. Other tactics used were using heavily-armoured units that could just push away or ignore the "bristles" of the pikes; However, such units would fall prey to almost everything but pikemen.

Units such as Macemen, Greatswordsmen, and Axemen, using heavy, fatigueing, weapons could smash pikeheads, but even if they managed to break every single pike would normally get slashed apart by swift shortsword blows from the (no-longer)pikemen.

Colloquial name for the Esocidae family of freshwater fish found in Europe and North America, where they are prized as game because they are stubborn fighters and good dinner. Pike have long thin bodies with spineless dorsal fins, large anal fins, and ferocious teeth in long narrow jaws; their flesh is lean and firm, low in fat but high in bones.

Among edible members of the pike family are pickerel, muskellunge, and the aptly named pike. Pickerel are the smallest at about 2-3 lbs (about 1 kg) while the formidable muskellunge or muskie tend to weigh about 10-20 lb (4.5-9 kg), though some may attain a hefty 60 lb (27 kg). Living in lakes in North America, muskies are carnivorous and solitary, lurking in weedy shallows to ambush their prey, said by mischievous fathers to include the members of young humans. Pike are eaten whole, filleted, or in steaks; they are very versatile and can be cooked in any manner. Pike is traditionally used in quenelles and gefilte fish. The fish commonly known as walleyed pike, by the way, is really a perch.

Pike (?), n. [F. pique; perhaps of Celtic origin; cf. W. pig a prick, a point, beak, Arm. pik pick. But cf. also L. picus woodpecker (see Pie magpie), and E. spike. Cf. Pick, n. & v., Peak, Pique.]

1. Mil.

A foot soldier's weapon, consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a pointed steel head. It is now superseded by the bayonet.

2.

A pointed head or spike; esp., one in the center of a shield or target.

Beau. & Fl.

3.

A hayfork.

[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Tusser.

4.

A pick.

[Prov. Eng.]

Wright. Raymond.

5.

A pointed or peaked hill.

[R.]

6.

A large haycock.

[Prov. Eng.]

Halliwell.

7.

A turnpike; a toll bar.

Dickens.

8. Zool. sing. & pl.

A large fresh-water fish (Esox lucius), found in Europe and America, highly valued as a food fish; -- called also pickerel, gedd, luce, and jack.

⇒ Blue pike, grass pike, green pike, wall-eyed pike, and yellow pike, are names, not of true pike, but of the wall-eye. See Wall-eye.

Gar pike. See under Gar. -- Pike perch Zool., any fresh-water fish of the genus Stizostedion (formerly Lucioperca). See Wall-eye, and Sauger. -- Pike pole, a long pole with a pike in one end, used in directing floating logs. -- Pike whale Zool., a finback whale of the North Atlantic (Balaenoptera rostrata), having an elongated snout; -- called also piked whale. -- Sand pike Zool., the lizard fish. -- Sea pike Zool., the garfish (a).

 

© Webster 1913.