SPIKE

I. noun see: spoke Date: 13th century a very large nail, 2. one of a row of pointed irons placed (as on the top of a wall) to prevent passage, b. one of several metal projections set in the sole and heel of a shoe to improve traction, a pair of shoes having ~s attached to the soles or soles and heels, spindle 1e, something resembling a ~: as, a young mackerel not over six inches (15.2 centimeters) long, an unbranched antler of a young deer, ~ heel 2, the act or an instance of spiking (as in volleyball), 6. a pointed element in a graph or tracing, an unusually high and sharply defined maximum (as of amplitude in a wave train), hypodermic needle , a momentary sharp increase and fall in electric potential, an abrupt sharp increase (as in prices or rates), ~like adjective II. verb (~d; spiking) Date: 1624 transitive verb to fasten or furnish with ~s, 2. to disable (a muzzle-loading cannon) temporarily by driving a ~ into the vent, to suppress or block completely , 3. to pierce or impale with or on a ~, to reject (as a story) for publication or broadcast for editorial reasons, 4. to add an alcoholic beverage to (a drink) , to add a foreign substance to , to add something highly reactive (as a radioactive tracer) to, to add vitality, zest, or spice to ; liven , to drive (as a volleyball) sharply downward with a hard blow, to undergo a sudden sharp increase in (temperature or fever) , intransitive verb to increase sharply , ~r noun III. noun see: spine Date: 14th century an ear of grain, an elongated inflorescence similar to a raceme but having the flowers sessile on the main axis