Spike (?), n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D. spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel. spik; 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.
2.
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.
3.
An ear of corn or grain.
4. 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 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.]
© Webster 1913.
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.
2.
To set or furnish with spikes.
3.
To fix on a spike.
[R.]
Young.
4.
To stop the vent of (a gun or cannon) by driving a spike nail, or the like into it.
<-- (Sport) To throw violently to the ground, so that it bounces. Sometimes done by football players after scoring a goal, as a victory celebration. -->
© Webster 1913.
Spike, n. [Cf. G. spieke, L. spica an ear of grain. See Spikenard.] Bot.
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.
© Webster 1913.