/ haɪk; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a long walk in the country :
They went on a ten-mile hike through the forest.
We could go into town but it's a real hike (= a long way) from here.
2.
hike (in sth) ( informal , especially NAmE ) a large or sudden increase in prices, costs, etc. :
a tax / price hike
the latest hike in interest rates
•
IDIOMS
- take a hike
■ verb
1.
to go for a long walk in the country, especially for pleasure :
[ v ]
strong boots for hiking over rough country
[ vn ] ( NAmE )
to hike the Rockies
2.
[ v ] go hiking to spend time hiking for pleasure :
If the weather's fine, we'll go hiking this weekend.
3.
[ vn ] hike sth (up) to increase prices, taxes, etc. suddenly by large amounts :
The government hiked up the price of milk by over 40%.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- hike sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
early 19th cent. (originally dialect, as a verb): of unknown origin.