From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspikespike1 /spaɪk/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 SHARPsomething long and thin with a sharp point, especially a pointed piece of metal2 [usually singular] a sudden large increase in the number or rate of somethingspike in a spike in interest rates3 → spikes4 → spike heels
Examples from the Corpus
spike• In the last six months, there has been a spike in unemployment.• Inside the wool moved ships, and we could see the tips of their masts travelling above the fog like disembodied spikes.• Graceful spikes of lords-and-ladies pushed up through the earth below white-blossomed blackthorn.• A row of spikes lined the top of the wall.• The bottom line is, the latest price spike has left motorists feeling angry and political leaders looking for somebody to blame.• From the centre of the rosette sprang a single five-inch stalk with a small spike of closed white flowers at its end.• His head must have fallen almost directly on top of one of the tall spikes that surmounted the old iron rail.• Who can forget the rage, the gait, the spike jammed into the fringed brow, the smoldering eyes?• In the street below the house with the dome people were pausing to look up at the arrows in the spike.• What would some one have thought, had he looked on the seat and seen those spikes there?spikespike2 verb 1 DFD[transitive] to secretly add strong alcohol or a drug to someone’s drink or foodspike something with something The orange juice had been spiked with gin.2 [intransitive] if the number or rate of something spikes, it increases quickly and by a large amount New telephone orders have spiked in the last two years.3 PUSH[transitive] to push a sharp tool or object into something4 PREVENT[transitive] to prevent someone from saying something or printing something in a newspaper a clumsy attempt to spike rumours of a cabinet split5 a) spike the ball American English to powerfully throw an American football down on the ground to celebrate a touchdown b) [intransitive, transitive] to powerfully hit a volleyball down over the net6 → spike somebody’s guns→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
spike• New telephone line orders have spiked in the last two years.• The gas tax rollback, initiated because gasoline prices spiked this spring, has since fallen by the wayside.• Anti-logging activists often spike trees to prevent them from being cut down.• She was looking particularly uncompromising today, tired and pale, her dark, short hair spiking up at the back.• In 1987, Mr Salvigsen again hit a home run when he forecast that interest rates would spike up.• James Harper, defending, said Colling believed his drinks had been spiked with a narcotic substance which caused his violent behaviour.• Endless bowls of hot tortilla chips are accompanied by a fresh salsa spiked with just the right amount of cilantro.• And when I hummed old tunes that soothed my baby sister something in them spiked your grief to howling.Origin spike1 (1200-1300) Probably from Middle Dutch 