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Added 8 October 2026

pike

/paɪk/ noun

In Latin: dolō, hasta Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pike at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.
A sharp, pointed staff or implement.
A large haycock (“conical stack of hay left in a field to dry before adding to a haystack”).

verb

To prod, attack, or injure someone with a pike.
To assume a pike position.
To bet or gamble with only small amounts of money.

noun

Clipping of turnpike.
They tried out every idea that came down the pike.
A gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller from any ethnic background; a pikey.

verb

To equip with a turnpike.
To depart or travel (as if by a turnpike), especially to flee, to run away.

Origin

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk. It is a doublet of pique.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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