<B>spike</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>spiked,</B> <B>spiking.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a large, strong nail or pin usually of iron, used for fastening rails to the ties or heavy timbers in place. <BR> <I>Ex. Many spikes stuck out of the rotting timbers on the fishing boat.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a sharp-pointed piece or part of metal or wood fastened in something with the point outward, as at the top of a wall, gate, or the like, for defense or to hinder passage. <BR> <I>Ex. He caught his pants on a spike while climbing over the iron fence.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>one of the metal points or sharp cleats, or a plate of them, attached to the sole of a shoe to prevent slipping. <DD><B> 4. </B>anything like a spike, such as a bony projection of certain fishes, for example the marlin or the sailfish. <DD><B> 5a. </B>the antler of a young deer, when straight and without snag or tine. <DD><B> b. </B>a young mackerel six or seven inches long. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Aerospace.) a projection in front of a ramjet engine, used to control shock waves. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Physics.) a sudden, sharp uprise or peak, as in a motion, voltage, or current. <BR> <I>Ex. An infinitely sharp spike would have an energy uncertainty of zero (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>any tip or high point on a linear graph. <BR> <I>Ex. ... brain-wave patterns characterized by six- and 14-per-second spikes in the brain-wave tracing (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>a sharp downward striking of a volleyball over the net into the opponents' court. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to fasten with spikes. <BR> <I>Ex. The men spiked the rails to the ties when laying the tracks.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to provide or fit with or as if with spikes. <BR> <I>Ex. Runners wear spiked shoes to keep from slipping.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to pierce with or as if with a spike. <DD><B> 4. </B>to injure (an opponent or other player) with the spikes of one's shoes. <DD><B> 5. </B>to make (a cannon) useless by driving a spike into the opening where the powder is set off. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to put an end or stop to; make useless; block; thwart. <BR> <I>Ex. The extra guard spiked the prisoner's attempt to escape.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to hit (a volleyball) sharply downward over the net into the opponents' court. <DD><B> 8. </B>(Informal.) to add alcoholic liquor to (a drink or punch). <DD><I>v.i. </I> to project up or out like a spike. <BR><I>expr. <B>spikes,</B> </I>a pair of shoes fitted with spikes, used in baseball, track, and other sports to prevent slipping. <BR> <I>Ex. Wearing spikes is forbidden in football, since in this game spikes can cause serious injuries.</I> adj. <B>spikelike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spike">
<B>spike</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an ear of grain. <DD><B> 2. </B>a long, pointed cluster of flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="spikebuck">
<B>spike buck,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a male deer in its first or second year, when its antlers are in the form of straight spikes. </DL>
<A NAME="spikedheel">
spiked heel, =spike heel.</DL>
<A NAME="spikeheel">
<B>spike heel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a high, usually narrow and tapered heel on a woman's dress shoe; stiletto heel. </DL>
<A NAME="spikehorn">
<B>spike horn,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a deer's horn in the form of a spike. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=spike buck.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spikelavender">
<B>spike lavender,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a lavender native to the Mediterranean region, having spikes of pale-purple flowers and yielding an oil used in painting. </DL>
<A NAME="spikelet">
<B>spikelet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small spike or flower cluster, especially a small spike in the compound inflorescence of grasses or sedges. </DL>
<A NAME="spikenard">
<B>spikenard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sweet-smelling ointment used by the ancients. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fragrant East Indian plant from which it was probably obtained; nard. It belongs to the same family as the valerian. <DD><B> 3. </B>a tall American herb of the ginseng family, having greenish flowers and a fragrant root. </DL>
<A NAME="spiker">
<B>spiker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that spikes. <DD><B> 2. </B>a workman who drives the spikes in the ties in laying railroad tracks. </DL>
<A NAME="spikerush">
<B>spike rush,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any plant of a group of the sedge family, having simple stems with a solitary terminal spike and closely overlapping scales. </DL>
<A NAME="spikes">
<B>spikes, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>spike</B> (1). </DL>
<A NAME="spiketeam">
<B>spike team,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a team of three draft animals, one leading the other two, that are harnessed abreast. </DL>
<A NAME="spikily">
<B>spikily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a spiky manner; like spikes. </DL>
<A NAME="spiky">
<B>spiky, </B>adjective, <B>spikier,</B> <B>spikiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having spikes; set with sharp, projecting points. <BR> <I>Ex. Being tough and spiky, cacti are relatively poor fodder (Science News).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having the shape of a spike. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>sharp; cutting. <BR> <I>Ex. "There's this chapel," she said, feeling a spiky nostalgia (New Yorker). She makes spiky statements about, say, original sin (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>sharp-tongued; irritable; cross. <BR> <I>Ex. He is a controversial, occasionally spiky, man of steely intellect (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spile">
<B>spile, </B>noun, verb, <B>spiled,</B> <B>spiling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a peg or plug of wood used to stop the small hole of a cask or barrel; spigot; bung. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) a small wooden or metal spout for drawing off sap from the sugar maple. <DD><B> 3. </B>a heavy stake or beam driven into the ground as a support; pile. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to stop up (a hole) with a plug. <DD><B> 2. </B>to provide (a tree) with a spile or spout. <DD><B> 3. </B>to furnish, strengthen, or support with stakes or piles. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Dialect.) to draw (liquid) from a cask by broaching. </DL>
<A NAME="spilikin">
<B>spilikin, </B>noun. =spillikin.</DL>
<A NAME="spiling">
<B>spiling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>spiles; piling. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of driving in spiles. </DL>
<A NAME="spill">
<B>spill</B> (1), verb, <B>spilled</B> or <B>spilt,</B> <B>spilling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to let (liquid or any matter in loose pieces) run or fall. <BR> <I>Ex. to spill milk, to spill salt.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to scatter; disperse. <DD><B> 3. </B>to shed (blood), as in killing or wounding. <BR> <I>Ex. blood spilled on the battlefield.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) to cause to fall from a horse, cart, boat, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. The boat upset and spilled her into the water.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to let wind out of (a sail). <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to make known; tell. <BR> <I>Ex. to spill a secret.</I> (SYN) divulge, disclose. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to fall or flow out. <BR> <I>Ex. Water spilled from the pail.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to become empty of wind. <BR> <I>Ex. The ship turned slowly to the wind, pitching and chopping as the sails were spilling (Frederick Marryat).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of spilling. <DD><B> 2. </B>the quantity spilled. <DD><B> 3. </B>a fall. <BR> <I>Ex. He got a bad spill trying to ride that horse.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) a downpour (of rain). <DD><B> 5. </B><B>=spillway.</B> adj. <B>spillable.</B> noun <B>spiller.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spill">
<B>spill</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a thin piece of wood, or a folded or twisted piece of paper, used to light a candle, pipe, or fire, as from a fire or another candle. <BR> <I>Ex. candle-lighters, or "spills" ... of coloured paper (Elizabeth Gaskell).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a splinter; sliver. <DD><B> 3. </B>a pin or slender rod upon which anything turns; spindle. <DD><B> 4. </B>a spile; bung. </DL>
<A NAME="spillage">
<B>spillage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of spilling. <BR> <I>Ex. The food dishes should be about two inches high and have steep sides to prevent spillage (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>what is spilled; amount spilled. <BR> <I>Ex. ... eating the spillage of grain and fruit manhandled through the port by our laborers (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spillikin">
<B>spillikin, </B>noun. <B>=jackstraw.<BR></B>expr. <B>spillikins,</B> the game of jackstraws. <BR> <I>Ex. I have heard that the Bishops play spillikins for cups of tea (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spillover">
<B>spillover, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of spilling or running over, as beyond certain limits. <BR> <I>Ex. Inaccurately aimed low-power bombs could cause a spillover of nuclear destruction to civilian areas (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something that spills over; overflow; overabundance. <BR> <I>Ex. Thus the idea of Australia becoming an outlet for the spillover of Asia is chimerical (Julian Huxley).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spillway">
<B>spillway, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a channel or passage for the escape of surplus water, as from a reservoir behind a dam. </DL>
<A NAME="spilosite">
<B>spilosite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a greenish schistose rock resulting from metamorphism of slate. </DL>
<A NAME="spilt">
<B>spilt, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> spilled; a past tense and a past participle of <B>spill</B> (1). <BR> <I>Ex. Don't cry over spilt milk. For we ... are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again (II Samuel 14:14).</I> </DL>
