| 释义 |
▪ I. pike, n.1|paɪk|
Forms: 1 piic, 1, 3 pic, 3–4 pike, 3–6 pyk, 4–7 (9) pyke, 4– pike.
[Found in OE. as piic (8th c.), píc, in ME. pīk (pl. pīkes), later pȳke, pīke; beside which there existed from 14th c., in same senses, a collateral form with short vowel, pic, pik, pykk, now pick n.1 Cf. pick v.1, with its collateral form pike. In mod.Eng., in sense 1, pike is now local or dial., pick being in general use; but senses 2 and 3 are in general Eng. pike, while pick is obs. or dial.; sense 4 is now generally peak; sense 5 is dial. or local. OE. and ME. píc, pic agree in form and sense with F. pic (of which, however, examples are known only from the 12th c.). In the earliest instances, both in OE. and OF., pic was applied to a pick, pickaxe, or pick-hammer, with handle at right angles to the head; but, in both, the word was soon applied to a straight instrument or tool pointed at one end, or to the sharp point of such (cf. OE. hornpíc a pinnacle, in Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. iv. 5), as in Fr. to a poker, a glass-blower's tool, the end of a ship's yard, etc. The Eng. uses are not the same, but the development is on the whole parallel. See Note below.]
I.
1. A pickaxe; a pick used in digging, breaking up ground, etc., also for picking a millstone. Obs. except as dial. form of pick n.1
(It seems certain that the OE. examples belong here. In Goetz Corpus Gloss. Lat. VI. 17, Acisculum is glossed as ‘σκάϕιον ἤτοι ὄρυξ κηπουρική; malliolum structorium; quod habent structores, quasi malleolus est ad cædendos lapides; µυλοκόπον’.)
c725Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 49 Acisculum, piic. c1000ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 109/4 Acisculum, pic. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 941 Mattok is a pykeys, Or a pyke, as sum men seys. 13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1253 ‘Tak a pike, To-night thou schalt with me strike’..An hole thai bregen, all with ginne [etc.]. 1756Lloyd in W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. (1757) 51, I have.. desired the Grinder not to pick his Mill so often with the sharp Pikes, or to keep it so rough. 1877E. Leigh Gloss. Dial. Chesh., Pike, an iron instrument sharp on the one side and like a hammer on the other, used for splitting and breaking coals. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 323 Pike..3. A pick. [E.D.D. has it also from S. Staffordsh.] 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Pike. See Pick.
II.
2. a. A sharp point, the pointed tip of anything, a spike; as the pointed metal tip of a staff or of an arrow or spear, the spike in the centre of a buckler: = pick n.1 2.
a1225Leg. Kath. 1923 Swa þet te pikes & te irnene preones se scharpe & se starke borien þurh & beoren forð feor on þet oðer half. c1275XI Pains of Hell 70 in O.E. Misc. 149 A hwel of stele is furþer mo... A þusend spoken beoþ þer-on, And pykes ouer al idon. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 205/170 Þis kniȝt heo bounden honden and fet and a-midde þe fuyre him caste, With Irene Ovles and pikes heo to⁓drowen him wel faste. c1320Sir Beues 3856 Here bordones were imaked wel Wiþ longe pikes of wel gode stel. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 88 Dobest..Bereþ a Busschopes cros, Is hoket atte ende,..to holden hem in good lyf. A pyk is in þe potent to punge adoun þe wikkede [1393 C. xi. 94 With þe pyk putte adoune preuaricatores legis]. c1380Sir Ferumb. 4648 And þe walles were of Marbreston. Wyþ pykes of yre y-set þer-on, Oppon þe crest ful þykke. c1440Promp. Parv. 396/2 Pyke, of a staffe, or oþer lyke, cuspis, stiga. Ibid., Pyke, or tyynde of yryne (or prekyl), carnica. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxiii. 220 He fonde in a chambre aboute v honderd of grete staues of fyne oke with longe pykes of yren and of stele. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 197 b, The lord Scales had a gray courser, on whose schaffron was a long and a sharpe pyke of stele. 1565–6Roy. Proclam. as to Apparel 12 Feb., Any buckler with any poynt or pyke aboue two ynches in length. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. iv. xi. (1622) 107 Contrarily the Romaine souldier..thrust them backe with the pikes of their bucklers. 1651Biggs New Disp. §80 All ice beginning, maketh jagged pikes, after the fashion of a Nettle⁓leafe. 1825Scott Talism. i, The front-stall of the bridle was a steel plate,..having in the midst a short, sharp pike. Ibid. vi, In the tilt-yard..spears are tipped with trenchers of wood, instead of steel pikes. a1906Mod. Sc. The pike has come out of the peery (= peg-top). 1976New Yorker 9 Feb. 32/3 Her sleeve catches in the metal pike of the turnstile and Jane picks it out, in the nick of time.
†b. A prickle, a thorn; a hedgehog's prickle or spine; = pick n.1 2. Chiefly Sc. Obs. or dial.
c1305St. Edmund King 47 in E.E.P. (1862) 88 As ful as an illespyl is of pikes al aboute As ful he stikede of arewen wiþ-inne & wiþoute. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxii, Herenacius is an Irchoun..& his skyn is closid all a boute with pykes and prickis. c1470Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 292 (Bann. MS.), Syne our a mvre, with thornis thik and scherp,..he went, And had nocht bene throw suffrage of his harp, With fell pikis he had bene schorne and schent. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxii. 23 [The] Thirsill..Quhois pykis throw me so reuthles ran. 1508― Tua Mariit Wemen 15 Throw pykis of the plet thorne I presandlie luikit. 1549Compl. Scot. xvii. 148 He vas crounit vitht ane palme of gold, be rason that the palme tre hes schearp broddis and pikis. 1570Levins Manip. 122/23 A pike, pricke, aculeus. 1572J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 61 So is the little Hiricion with his sharpe pykes almoste the leaste of all other beastes. a1600Montgomerie Misc. Poems (S.T.S.) xl. 46 Sen peircing pyks ar kyndlie with the rose. 1789Ross Helenore 26 A hail hauf mile she had at least to gang, Thro' birns and pikes [ed. 1768 pits] and scrabs, and heather lang.
c. Turning. The spike or pin in a lathe upon which one end of the object to be turned is fixed.
1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 180 Upon the points of this Screw and Pike the Centers of the Work are pitcht. Ibid. xiii. 220 Having prepared the Work fit for the Lathe..they pitch it between the Pikes.
†d. fig. A horn of a dilemma: = horn n. 27.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xix. 94 They propose a question with two pykes. Ibid. xxi. 102 A question with two pikes.
†e. An ear-pick; = pick n.1 5. Obs.
1570Levins Manip. 122/26 A Pike, for the ear, scalprum.
3. a. A staff having an iron point or spike, a pikestaff (now dial.); † spec. a pilgrim's staff (obs.): = pick n.1 3.
to tip (a person) the pikes, to give (him) the slip: cf. pick n.1 3, quot. 1673.
c1205Lay. 30731 Þa imette he enne pilegrim pic bar an honde [Wace bordon à pélerin]. Ibid. 30745 Brien..saide þat he wes pelegrim ah pic nefden he nan mid him. Ibid. 30848 His pic he nom an honden & helede hine under capen. 13..Coer de L. 611 They were redy for to wende, With pyke and with sclavyn, As palmers were in Paynym. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 257 (MS. T) Þat Penitencia his pike [1377 B. v. 482 pyke] he shulde pulsshe newe. Ibid. vi. 26 Sauh I neuere Palmere with pyk [1377 B. v. 542 pike] ne with scrippe. 1724J. Shirley Triumph Wit (ed. 8) 171 Tho' he tips [printed rips] them the Pikes they nig him again. 1869G. Tickell Life Marg. Mary Hallahan (1870) 165 Mother Margaret could not venture as far as the post-office without the aid of a pike.
b. A pitchfork, a hay-fork: = pick n.1 4 b. Now dial.
1410in Rogers Agric. & Pr. III. 546/2, 3 dung pykes. 1472Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 245 Item j Pyke pro feno extrahendo. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 37 A rake for to hale vp the fitchis that lie, A pike for to pike them vp handsom to drie. 1706Phillips, Pike..In Husbandry, a Prong, or Iron-fork. 1766Compl. Farmer, Pike, a name given in some counties to what is generally called a fork, used for carrying straw, &c. 1825in Hone Every-day Bk. I. 854 Pitchforks, or pikes, as in Cornwall they are..called. 1870Auct. Catal. [Shropshire] (E.D.D.), Pikes and rakes.
c. In Salt-making. (See quot.)
1884R. Holland Chesh. Gloss., Pike, s. salt-making term; a one-pronged instrument (one can hardly call it a fork, seeing it has but one prong) used for lifting and handling lumps of salt.
d. Applied to a tent-pole or its pointed end.
1827Perils & Captivity (Constable's Misc.) 303 It is the women..who lift the pikes of the tents, when their husbands are resolved to move their camp.
III. 4. An extremity tapering to a point; a peak. a. The long point or peak of a shoe, such as was fashionable in 14th–15th c.; a poulaine. Obs. exc. Hist.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 124 Men deformen hor body by hor foule atyre, as pikes of schoone. 1432–50tr. Higden, Harl. Contin. (Rolls) VIII. 497 But mony abusions comme from Boemia into Englonde with this qwene, and specially schoone with longe pykes. 1463–4Rolls of Parlt. V. 505/1 Eny shoes or Boteux, havyng pykes passyng the lengh of ii ynches. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 6 b, Bootes with pykes turned vp. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xvii. (1623) 870 The pikes in the Toes were turned vpward and with siluer chaines, or silke laces tied to the knee. [1723Thoresby in Phil. Trans. XXXII. 345 In Stow's Chronicle, ad An. 1465, we read of a Proclamation against the Beaks or Pikes of Shoone, or Boots, that they should not pass two Inches. 1834J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 202 No one under the estate of a lord was permitted to wear pikes or poleines to his shoes..exceeding two inches in length.]
b. The pointed end, ‘beak’, or ‘horn’ of an anvil. Obs. or dial.
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. i. 3 A Black Smiths Anvil..is sometimes made with a Pike, or Bickern, or Beak-iron at one end of it. 1680Ibid. x. 179 A strong Iron Pike, but its point is made of tempered Steel. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 300/2 Pike..that as comes out of one end of [an Anvil]. 1957[see bick].
5. dial. A narrow pointed piece of land at the side of a field of irregular shape; = gore n.2 1 b, pick n.1 6.
1585Rec. Leicester (1905) III. 217, 4 lands, 23 pikes, lying south upon Knighton Mere. 1724MS. Indenture (co. Derby), Together with all mounds, fences,..pikes, balkes, land ends. 1737MS. Indenture, Estate at Rolleston, Stafford., Pikes selions or butts of arable land in a field called Crowthorn field. 1847–78Halliwell, Pikes, short butts which fill up the irregularity caused by hedges not running parallel. 1898N. & Q. 9th Ser. I. 454/1 Hereabouts [Worcestershire] ‘pikes’ [of ploughed land] are the ‘peaked’ bits.
IV.
6. attrib. and Comb.: † pike-bolt, a sharp-pointed bolt; pike-pole U.S., a pole provided with a spike and a hook, used by lumbermen in driving logs, also as a boat-hook; piketail U.S., the pintail duck; pike-wall dial., a gable-wall; pike-wise adv., in peaked or cuneiform formation.
1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 206 Many..have left the use of them and of sundry other preventions as of shere⁓hookes,..*pike bolts in their wales and divers other engines of antiquitie.
c1440Promp. Parv. 397/1 *Pykewalle..murus conalis, piramis, vel piramidalis. 1556–7in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 455 The pyke wall in tholde Hall.
1513in Three 15th Cent. Chron. (Camden) 87 The Kyng of Scottes armye was devyded in to fyue batelles,..part of them were quadrant, some *pykewyse. [Note. The etymology of pike, with the related pick n.1, peak n.1, and the vbs. pike1, pick1, peck, presents many difficulties. OE. píc, ME. pic, seem to be the same word as OF. and mod.F. pic, corresp. to Prov. pic, Sp., Pg. pico, all applied to something sharp-pointed, and having a cognate vb., F. piquer, Pr., Sp., Pg. picar, It. piccare, to pierce, prick, sting, etc. The origin of this Romanic family is disputed. Diez referred it to L. pīc-us the woodpecker, in reference to the action of the long and powerful beak with which that bird hammers, picks, and pierces the bark of trees. The phonetic difficulty that the c of L. pīc-us and a derived *pīcā-re would not remain in the mod. langs., but be lost in F. (pi, *pier), and elsewhere become g, has been met by the suggestion that the group, being of echoic origin, retained the c or k unchanged, or that late L. had, beside pīc-us, the popular forms *pīcc-us and *pīcc-āre (perh. due to echoic modification), which would phonetically give the modern forms. Celtic origin or influence has also been suggested. Welsh pīg anything pointed, pointed end, point, pike, beak, bill, with its cognate vb. pīgo, Cornish pīga to prick, sting, pick, peck (said of a thorn, a bird, etc.), and a large group of connected words in Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, point to an original pīk-, the Brythonic cognate of OIr. cīch (Proto-Celtic *qīk-), found on the OIr. gloss cich i. ger (i.e. ‘sharp’) from the Book of Lecan, printed by Stokes in Archiv für Celtische Lexicographie I. 59 (note on 73). In the Teutonic langs. OE. pīc appears to stand alone in the early period. ON. had pík, app. as a personal nickname (Hakon pík) in 12th c., and as a common noun pík a pikestaff c 1330; in same sense MSw. had piik, and 13th c. Norw. had píkstafr; mod.Sw. and Norw. pīk, M.Da. piig, Da. pig pike, point, prickle. The probability appears to be that these were adopted from the same source as Eng. pike. See also pick v.1] ▪ II. pike, n.2 north. Eng.|paɪk|
Also 3, 7 pik, 6 pyke.
[app. either a local application of pike n.1, or of Norse origin: cf. West Norw. dial. pîk a pointed mountain, pîktind a peaked summit.]
1. A northern English name for a pointed or peaked summit, or a mountain or hill with a pointed summit; entering extensively into the nomenclature of mountains and hills in and around the English Lake district.
The names in Pike have their centre in Cumbria, and Lancashire-above-the-sands, where are Scawfell Pike, Langdale Pikes, Pike o' Stickle, Causey Pike, Grisedale Pike, Red Pike, White Pike, Wansfell Pike, etc.; they gradually thin off in the surrounding counties, examples being Rivington Pike in mid-Lancashire; Backden Pike, Pinnar Pike, Haw Pike, in Yorkshire; Pontop Pike, West Pike, in Durham; Glanton Pike, East Pike, West Pike, Three Pikes, in Northumberland; Hartshorn Pike, The Pike in Roxburghshire, The Pike in Selkirkshire, etc. It is notable that the pikes are localized in the district of England characterized by Norse topographical names, the country of the becks, fells, forces, ghylls, hows, riggs, scaurs, screes, thwaites, and tarns, that the name is ancient, as old as sense 2 of pike n.1, and that pîk is used in precisely the same way in West Norwegian dialect.
c1250Lanc. Charters No. 1974 (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 32107 lf. 280 b), Et sic sequendo dictum diuisum forrestæ et metæ de Rothington se diuidunt vsque ad Winterhold pike et sic sequendo altitudinem del Egges vsque in Romesclogh heued. 1277–90Grant by Cecilia widow of Wm. of Rivington (MSS. of W. H. Lever), Et sic sequendo altam viam ultra Roinpik [= Rivington Pike] vsque Stondandestan. 1322Close Roll 15 Edw. II., memb. 2 dorso (P.R.O.), Et sic vsque ad altum de Yowberg et sic vsque le Mikeldor de Yowberg, et exinde vsque le Rede Pike [Wast Water]. a1400–50Alexander 4818 Þai labourde vp agayn þe lift an elleuen dais, & quen þai couert to þe crest, þen clerid þe welkyn..Þan past þai doun fra þat pike in-to a playn launde. a1552Leland Itin. (1744) V. 90 But communely the People ther⁓about caullith hit Riven-pike. 1588in E. Baines Hist. Lancs. (1889) III. 229 note, The hundreth of Sallford is to paie for the watchinge of [the] Beacon of Rivington Pyke [from 10 July to 30 September]. 1604Surv. Debat. Lands, Bound. Eng. & Scot., From the head of Blakeup the boundes extendeth to Bell's Rigg, and so to Blakeley Pike. 1664Acc. Bk. D. Fleming, Rydal Hall, Westmld. 26 Sept., It. for walling one day at y⊇ Low-pike. 1673R. Blome Britanniæ 132 Amongst which Hills these are of chief note, viz. Furness Fells, Riving Pike, and Pendle Hill. 1738S. Fearon & J. Eyes Sea Coast Eng. & Wales 18 Keep away about S.S.E. 'til the Westermost of the two fair Houses at Banks be in a line with Rivington Pike. Ibid., Keep so' til Wharton Chappel comes in a line with Porlock Pike. 1793Wordsw. Descript. Sk. 482 Pikes, of darkness named and fears and storms, Uplift in quiet their illumined forms. 1819Shelley Peter Bell the Third i. xii, Then there came down from Langdale Pike A cloud, with lightning, wind, and hail. 1865Bellew Blount Tempest I. 70 On the East, the moors and pikes of Yorkshire..descend and slope towards the sea. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 73 Pike O'Stickle..looks like a huge petrified haycock. 1888Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere i. vii, Masses of broken crag rising at the very head of the valley into a fine pike.
b. A cairn or pillar of stones erected on the highest point of a mountain or hill; also, a beacon, tower, or pile on an eminence.
Many of the natural pikes (e.g. Rivington Pike) were beacon hills; hence the name appears to have been sometimes associated with a beacon.
1751in E. Baines Hist. Lancs. (1888) II. 333 [Inscription on a conical pillar on the summit of Hartshead Hill, 8 miles ENE. of Manchester.] This Pike was rebuilt by Publick Contributions, Anno Do. 1751. a1815in Pennecuik's Wks. (1815) 49 note, These piles of stones are often termed Cairn, Pike, Currough, Cross, &c. 1856T. T. Wilkinson in Lanc. & Chesh. Hist. Soc. Trans. 4 Dec., Pikelaw [near Burnley, Lancs.] has much the appearance of a large tumulus, but as its name indicates, it has long been used for the purposes of a beacon.
2. A pointed or peaked stack of hay, made up (of a number of hay-cocks) temporarily in the hayfield, until it can be carted to the farm-yard; also, a stack of corn, circular in form, pointed, and of no great size. (Eng. Dial. Dict.)
1641Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 37 A sacke is made allwayes after the manner of a longe square, having a ridge like the ridge of an howse; and a pyke, rownde, and sharpe att the toppe. 1796Trans. Soc. Arts XIV. 193 Employing every hand in making it into large cocks (or pikes). 1832Scoreby Farm Rep. 12 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, Ten or twelve cocks may be formed into a ‘pike’, containing about a ton of hay. 1886Pall Mall G. 8 Nov. 3/1 The habit of allowing hay to remain in the fields in ‘pikes’, as they are called in the north,..is one of the customs of the country.
▪ III. † pike, n.3 Obs.|paɪk|
Also 6–7 pick(e, 7 pique: see also pic1, pico.
[ad. Sp. pico beak, bill, nib, peak, Pg. pico summit, top; cf. also mod.F. pic in same sense. Distinct from pike n.2, as being of much later introduction, and of general, not local, use, and as having at length passed into peak, while the northern Eng. word remains pike.]
1. The earlier form of peak n.2 (sense 5), the conical summit of a mountain; hence in the name of certain mountains of conical form. Used first in the name Pike (Picke) of Teneriffe; also in other geographical names, as Adam's Pike, Pike of Daman, etc., in all of which peak has now taken its place.
The name Pike of Teneriffe appears in Eden 1555 (as picke), and was prevalent during 16–17th c.; the modern equivalent peak appears in 1634, and prevailed after 1700, though the older pike occurs as late as 1776. In French, Thevenot used in 1663 the Spanish form pico (see peak n.2 5, quot. 1687). Pic occurs first in 1690 in Furetière, ‘mot..qui se dit en cette phrase, Pic de Teneriffe..ce mot vient de l'espagnol pico, qui signifie montagne’; it is not in Richelet 1680, but appears in ed. 1693; it was admitted into the Dict. Acad. in 1740, with the instances ‘pic de Teneriffe, pic d'Adam, pic du Midi’. But locally, pic was used in the Pyrenees, and is found in Provençal in 14th c.
1555Eden Decades 351 Teneriffa is a hygh lande and a greate hyghe picke like a suger lofe... By reason of that picke, it may be knowen aboue all other Ilandes. 1613W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. v, That sky-scaling Pike of Tenerife. 1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (Hakl. Soc.) xii, The pike of Tenerifa..is the highest land..that I haue seene... Going up to the pike, the cold is so great that it is insufferable. 1652Benlowes Theoph. i. viii, Higher than Ten'riff's Pique he flies. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech., Digress. 358 The top of the Pike of Tenariff. 1697W. Dampier Voy. round World (1699) 42, I am of opinion that it is higher than the Pike of Tenariff. 1715J. Edens in Phil. Trans. XXIX. 317 We saw the Pike with a white Cloud covering the Top of it like a Cap. c1765T. Flloyd Tartar. T. (1785) 14 A mountain..was called Adam's Pike. 1776R. Twiss Tour Irel. 118 The Pike of Teneriffe.
b. By extension, Any mountain peak; esp. a volcanic cone.
Quot. a 1697 is placed here, as not belonging to pike n.2 (Abergavenny's Pike and Cam's Pike (in Eng. Dial. Dict.) are not local names, the former being called the Sugar Loaf and the latter Cam Peak or locally Cam Pick.)
1604E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xxiv. 193 Ordinarily these Volcans be rockes or pikes of most high mountaines. 1676F. Vernon in Phil. Trans. XI. 581 The Pique of Parnassus. 1692Ray Disc. ii. ii. (1732) 104 The highest Pikes and Summits of those Mountains. a1697Aubrey Wilts. (Roy. Soc. MS.) 71 (Halliw.) Not far from Warminster is Clay-hill, and Coprip..; they are pikes or vulcanos. 1775R. Chandler Trav. Asia M. (1825) I. 29 The pikes both of Athos and of Tenedos suggest the idea that their mountains have burned. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 311 Snow..of a dazzling whiteness..on the highest pikes.
2. In the nautical phrase on (the) pike, in a vertical position, vertically, straight up and down: see the later form apeak, and peak v.3[French has also à pic in the same sense, cited before 1600, and it is a question in which language the phrase arose. But it is probable that in the phrases on the pike, on pike, a-pike, later a-peak, we have the same word as in sense 1, with its later form peak n.2 5, the connexion between pike = summit, and a-pike, being analogous to that between vertex and vertical, -ally.] 1594Greene & Lodge Looking-glass Wks. (Rtldg.) 129/2 Our yards across, our anchors on the pike, What, shall we hence, and take this merry gale? 1628Sir R. Le Grys tr. Barclay's Argenis 306 Setting their Oares on pike expected what those which were coming would command.
▪ IV. pike, n.4|paɪk|
Also 4 pik, 4–5 pyk, 5–8 pyke, 6 pycke, (7 pick).
[app. short for pike-fish, from pike n.1, in reference to its pointed beak; cf. ged1, and F. brochet pike (fish), f. broche a spit.]
1. A large, extremely voracious, freshwater fish of the northern temperate zone, Esox lucius, with a long slender snout; a jack, luce; among anglers the name is sometimes restricted to a specimen of a particular age or size (see quot. 1840–70, and pickerel1 quot. 1587). Hence, by extension, any fish of the genus Esox or of the family Esocidæ.
Among N. American species are the federation pike, Esox americanus, great pike, E. nobilior, hump-backed pike, E. cypho.
1314in Wardr. Acc. Edw. II 21/12 Dars roches et pik. 1337–8Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 33, j pyk. 1347–8Ibid. 546 Willelmo..piscando in Mordon Kerr pro pikes capiend. xxd. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 10 On a fyssday take Pyke or Elys, Codlyng or Haddok. c1440Promp. Parv. 396/1 Pyke, fysche, dentrix,..lucius,..lupus. 1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 395/2 As lollardes dyd of late, that put a pygge into y⊇ water on good fryday, & sayd goe in pygge, and come oute pyke. 1655Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 279 Pikes or River-wolves are greatly commended by Gesner and divers learned Authors for a wholesome Meat. 1806Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 334/2 It [Water of Leith] abounds with trout, and contains a few pike. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 100 What ponds he empty'd and what pikes he sold. 1840–70D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports 1101 When the fish does not exceed 4 lbs. or 5 lbs. in weight it is called in England ‘a jack’, and above that weight ‘a pike’. 1855Longfellow Hiaw. v. 49 He..Saw the pike, the Maskenozha. 1870Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 167 And watch the long pike basking lie Outside the shadow of the weed.
2. Applied in U.S. and the Commonwealth to various fishes resembling, in their slender body or sharp snout, the pikes proper: e.g. two cyprinoid fishes, Ptychochilus lucius and Gila grandis, of California, and species of Sphyræna of Australia.
1871Kingsley At Last vi, These barracoutas—Sphyrænas as the learned, or ‘pike’ as the sailors, call them, though they are no kin to our pike at home. 1880Rep. Fish. N.S. Wales 21 (Fish. Exhib. Publ.), Sphyræna novæ hollandiæ and obtusata and Neosphyræna multiradiata, all of them named, from the elongate muzzle and strong teeth, ‘pike’, though in no way related to the well-known European fish of that name.
b. With distinctive adjuncts:
bald p., a ganoid fish of N. America, Amia calva; blue, grey, green, yellow p., names of a species of the pike-perch, Stizostedion vitreum; bony p., a gar-fish of the family Lepidosteidæ; Brazilian p., a fish of the genus Hemirhamphus (Pennant); glass-eyed, goggle-eyed, wall-eyed p., the pike-perch, Stizostedion americanum (or S. vitreum); ground-p., mud-p., sand-p., the sauger (S. canadense); sand-p., also the lizard-fish, Synodus fœtens; sea p., the common gar-fish or gar-pike, Belone vulgaris: see also gar-pike.
1810P. Neill List of Fishes 16, Esox Lucius, Sea-pike; Gar-pike. 1847Ansted Anc. World iv. 61 The sturgeon, the Siluridæ or Cat-fish, the bony pike of the North American Lakes.
3. attrib. and Comb., as pike-fish, pike-fisher, pike-fishing, pike-haunt, pike-leister, pike-monger, pike-pool, pike-slayer, pike-trap, pike-trolling; pike-eyed, pike-grey, pike-snouted adjs.; † pike-monger, a dealer in pike and other freshwater fish; pike-perch, a percoid fish of the genus Stizostedion, with jaws like those of a pike, species of which are found in European and N. American rivers; esp. S. americanum and S. vitreum; pike-sucker, a fish of the family Gobiesocidæ, characterized by a long snout like that of a pike and a ventral sucker like that of a goby; pike-whale = piked whale: see piked a.1 2 b.
1897Rhoscomyl White Rose Arno 60 By getting out here I shall avoid that *pike-eyed porter at the entrance.
1494Nottingham Rec. III. 280 In *pykeffyssh xs. ijd. 1633Naworth Househ. Bks. (Surtees) 306, 5 pick fishes, xvd.
1871Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Aug. 478 With this tackle the *pike-fisher can go forth.
1862Carlyle Fredk. Gt. viii. vi. (1872) III. 57 He..puts-off the *pike-gray coat.
1895E. R. Suffling Land of Broads 61 The reaches about Bramerton are noted *pike haunts.
1464Mann. & Househ. Exp. 252 Payd for a pyke and an ele that my mastyr owt the *pykemonger before, xxd. c1610in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 15 Every Pikemonger, that bringeth fresh fish to this Fair to sell, as Pike, Tench, Roche, Perch, Eel.
1854Badham Halieut. 114 The German sandre, *pike perch, one of the best flavored of the family. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 104 Stuffed Specimen of a ‘Pike-Perch’..from the Danube. 1884Mather in Cent. Mag. Apr. 908/1 The pike-perch becomes a ‘salmon’ in the Susquehanna, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers.
1884Harris in Littell's Living Age CLXI. 90 Your..*pike-snouted Chinese porker.
1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 366 *Pike Trap with funnel-shaped inlet.
Ibid. 375 The *Pike Whale..from the coast of Bohuslän.
▪ V. pike, n.5|paɪk|
Also 6 pique, pyke; and see pick n.2
[Found first in 16th c.: a. F. pique n. fem. (in Flanders 1376, Hatz.-Darm.), a military term = Pr. piqua, Sp., Pg. pica, It. picca (with doubled c); from the same root as F. piquer to pierce, puncture, and F. pic, pike n.1 (Ger. Pike, Du. piek, Da. and Sw. pik, are all from F. pique.)]
1. A weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft with a pointed head of iron or steel; formerly the chief weapon of a large part of the infantry; in the 18th c. superseded by the bayonet. † (to sell) under the pike (L. sub hasta), by auction; cf. spear. to trail a pike: see trail v.
In later times the simple form of the pike was sometimes modified, as by the addition of a lateral hook; and the name has been also loosely applied to forms of the halberd and to the half-pike or spontoon, formerly carried by infantry officers.
c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 28/1 There wepyns is lange pykes & stones. 1579–80North Plutarch (1676) 96 He stood at pike against the greatest and mightiest persons that bare the sway and government. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 12 b, With piques, and half piques, swords and targets. 1594Kyd Cornelia v. 444 See the wealth that Pompey gain'd in warre, Sold at a pike. 1598Barret Theor. Warres i. i. 4 For the plaine field, neither..Halbard, nor Partizan comparable to the Pike. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 40 Trayl'st thou the puissant Pyke? 1626Gouge Serm. Dignity Chivalry §11 Such men are more fit..to lift a pitchforke then to tosse a pike. 1706Phillips, Pike,..a Weapon for a Foot-Soldier, from 14 to 16 Foot long, arm'd at the end with a sharp Iron-spear. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The pike continues the weapon of foot-officers, who fight pike in hand, salute with the pike. 1832H. Martineau Ireland v. 85 The searchers reappeared, bringing with them a dozen pikes, a blunderbuss, and three braces of pistols. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 610 He had been seen on foot, pike in hand, encouraging his infantry by voice and by example.
†2. Phrases.
a. to pass (pass through) the pikes [= F. passer par les piques, passer les piques, It. passar per le picche], in quot. 1654 lit. to run the gauntlet; but usually fig. to pass through difficulties or dangers, esp. to come through successfully; to run the gauntlet of. Similarly to run through, (to be) past, the pikes, etc. Obs.
1555Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Mart. (1564) 289 Of al temptations this is the greatest, that god hath forgotten or will not helpe vs throughe the pykes, as they say. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 20 So mutch the harder it is like to go with me when..I must run thorouh the pikes. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 39 Thou arte heere amiddest the pykes betweene Scylla and Carybdis. 1621Sanderson Serm. I. 24 Neither Johns mourning, nor Christs piping can pass the pikes: but the one hath a devil, the other is a glutton and a wine-bibber. 1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 121 It [the squadron]..making those who according to their laws have deserved it, sometimes pass the pikes [passar per le picche], and sometimes be shot to death. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xix. (Roxb.) 218/2 To run the pikes (of some termed running the gauntlett), that is to be slashed and whipt throwe two files of men, 60 or 100 deepe. 1712M. Henry Life P. Henry Wks. 1857 II. 720/1 None of them [had] past the pikes of that perilous distemper. 1785Cowper Let. to Lady Hesketh 30 Nov., Wks. 1836 V. 187 So far, therefore, I have passed the pikes. The Monthly Critics have not yet noticed me.
†b. to run (push, cast oneself, etc.) upon the pikes: (fig.) to expose oneself to peril, rush to destruction. Obs.
a1555Philpot Exam. & Writ. (Parker Soc.) 16 But now I can not shew you my mind, but I must run upon the pikes, in danger of my life therefor. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 390 Of a couragious harted man, of his owne accorde, to pushe vpon the pykes of death. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 2 He casteth himselfe headlong vpon pikes, to be gored by euery sharp tongue. 1671Crowne Juliana iii. 23 For this I..run on the pikes of my great Father's anger.
†c. push of pike, close combat, fighting at close quarters; also fig. Obs.
1596Nashe Saffron-Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 154 To trie it out at the push of the pike. 1598Barret Theor. Warres 167 Nor so easie to come to the push of the pike, as to pen out a Lawing plea. [1682Bunyan Holy War 54 Half afraid that when they and we shall come to push a pike, I shall find you want courage to stand it out any longer.] 1699in Somers Tracts Ser. iv. (1751) III. 157 *By that Time the Blue Regiment was got within Push of Pike. 1707[N. Ward] Hud. Rediv. II. vii. vii. 10 But when at Push a Pike we play With Beauty, who shall win the Day? 1852Thackeray Esmond ii. xii. The French battalions never waiting to exchange push of pike or bayonet with ours.
†3. transf. = pikeman1. Obs.
1557Q. Mary in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 222 One fourth parte to be argabusiers or archers, one oother fourth parte pikes, and the rest billes. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 13 b, Backed with some squadrons of Piques. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xv. (1821) 381 Sent some three⁓score Shott and Pike to the foot of the hill. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. V, Wks. (1711) 91 The French could not spare so many men..but they gave him three thousand pikes, and one thousand launces.
4. attrib. and Comb., as pike-handle, pike-length, pike-point; pike-hammer = hammer-pike: see hammer n. 7. See also pike-head, pikeman1, etc.
1585–6Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 428 First clime the brech, a pike-length before and aboue anie person that followed him. 1799Hull Advertiser 23 Feb. 3/1 One fine young wood..had been cut down for pike-handles. 1834T. Singleton in J. Raine Mem. J. Hodgson (1858) II. 350 Before this parish had a hearse..the bodies of deceased parishioners were carried to the grave on poles resting on men's shoulders; these poles were the perquisite of the rector, and were called ‘pikehandles’, a custom rising rather from the nature of his residence in a fortalice in an unquiet country than from any ecclesiastical claim. 1891Atkinson Last Giant Killers 128 That some among those..pike⁓points might penetrate between his rings.
▪ VI. pike, n.6 dial. or local colloq. and U.S.
[Short for turnpike: first prob. in combinations: see 3.]
1. a. A bar or gate on a road at which toll is collected; a toll-bar or toll-gate.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxii. Ibid. lvi, I dewote the remainder of my days to a pike. 1840Haliburton Clockm. Ser. iii. xi. 145 S'pose any gentleman that keeps a pike was to give you a bad shillin' in change. 1896Longm. Mag. Nov. 66 The man at the pike..ran to open the gate.
b. transf. The toll paid at a turnpike-gate.
1837Dickens Pickw. lii, She [Mrs. Weller] paid the last pike [i.e. died] at twenty minutes afore six o'clock yesterday evenin. 1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour lvii. 323 He wouldn't haggle about the pikes. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 330 Oh, you have paid the pike for me.
2. a. A turnpike road, ‘turnpike’, highway. Also fig. Freq. in phr. (N. Amer. colloq.) to come down the pike: to appear on the scene; to come to notice. to hit the pike: see hit v. 11 a.
1812M. Edgeworth Absentee in Tales Fashionable Life VI. xvi. 377 Keep the pike till you come to the turn at Rotherford, and then you strike off into the by-road to the left. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii, The road..had formerly been a thoroughfare to the river, but abandoned for many years after the laying of the new pike. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 385/1 There were ruts and gulleys in it.., and yet they called it a pike and collected toll. 1899B. Tarkington Gentleman from Indiana iv. 44 The roans setting a sharp pace as they turned eastward on the pike toward home and supper. 1903[see flossy a.]. 1904[see hit v. 11 a]. 1907‘E. C. Hall’ Aunt Jane of Kentucky v. 107 Horseback riders had been pouring into town over the smooth, graveled pike. 1910W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 73 Cut loose and hit the pike for yourself. 1912[see duck soup s.v. duck n.1 12]. 1926Flynn's 16 Jan. 640/2, I also got cases on a couple of flivvers for a getaway, as we were about fourteen kilos from the main pike. 1934E. Linklater Magnus Merriman 82 Then I hit the pike for home. 1949Sun (Baltimore) 12 Oct. 12/1 Unfortunately, the State cannot control roadside development on the sections of the pike completed thus far. 1956E. O'Connor Last Hurrah v. 101 Your uncle's the ablest politician to come down the pike in these parts in the last fifty years. 1963[see defenceman, defenseman s.v. defence n. 9]. 1966R. S. Rudner Philos. Social Sci. 2 ‘Normative’ itself is not the clearest term to come to us down the philosophical pike. 1968Down Beat 7 Mar. 19/2 Jack thought that Jimmy was just about the greatest 'bone that had ever come down the pike, and Jimmy felt the same way about Jack, putting him above Miff Mole, who also was a tremendous trombone on that scene. 1970New Yorker 28 Feb. 41/1 A big truck went by way up on the pike. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 24 Apr. 2a/1 The plan is ‘halfway down the pike’ but much more effort is needed to make its redevelopment a reality. 1976New Yorker 26 Apr. 59/3 You could see how tired she was after a few hours of ‘being presentable to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes down the pike’.
b. A railway line or system (real or model). U.S.
1940Railroad Mag. XXVII. vi. 69/1 Lake Erie & International..recently highballed its first Limited around the newly completed circuit of main line. The pike boasts one Diesel-electric and one steam loco.., and its rolling stock is steadily growing. Ibid., Metropolitan Society of Model Engineers...tackled three layouts at one time. The first, a small HO pike was recently presented to the Union Station. 1945F. H. Hubbard Railroad Avenue ii. 9 They knew he [sc. Casey Jones] never dawdled at coal chutes, water cranes, or cinder-pit tracks or wasted time along the pike. 1945Railroad Mag. XXXVII. ii. 13 The financing of this little pike was an epic in itself... People along the route were so eager to see the rails laid that they donated labor.
3. Comb., as pike-keeper, pike-road. Also pikeman3.
1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1372 Sellers of cattle.., with the pike tickets in their hats. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxii, ‘What do you mean by a pike-keeper?’ inquired Mr. Peter Magnus. ‘The old 'un means a turnpike keeper, gen'lm'n’, observed Mr. Weller, in explanation. 1838‘J. Punkin’ Downfall of Freemasonry ii. 115 This threw everything into commotion, and as the teamsters say of a drove of cattle on a dirty pike road, ‘kicked up a dust’. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 132/2 We found greater comfort in the well-kept pike-road, with ridable grades, and lined in places with pleasant shade trees.
▪ VII. pike, n.7
obs. variant of pique, grudge.
▪ VIII. pike, n.8
obs. form of pitch n.1
▪ IX. pike, n.9
variant of pic2, measure of cloth.
▪ X. pike, n.11|paɪk|
[Origin obscure.]
A position of the body in diving (see quot. 1928); cf. jack-knife n. 3. Also, a similar body position in gymnastics. Also attrib.
1928Daily Express 13 July 4/4 For a pike dive spring up as for a header, then bend sharply at the waist and touch the toes without bending knees or ankles, then straighten again and enter head first. 1931Morning Post 21 Aug. 14/5 The pike reverse is a combination of the front pike and reverse. 1956Kunzle & Thomas Freestanding v. 60 Aim for a rhythmic drop and beat without any intermediate pause, but make sure that the pike is a full one. 1964Trampolining (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 11/2 Piked straddle jumping. Similar to the Pike Jump. 1974Rules of Game 203 In pike dives with twist, the twist must follow the pike.
▪ XI. † pike, a. Obs.
[Origin and meaning obscure: ? related to F. piqué turned sour (of wine), piquant pungent, spiced (of sauce, etc.).]
(?) Hot, biting, seasoned, spiced: esp. in pike sauce, also fig. sarcasm, pungent wit.
1519W. Horman Vulg. 160 Let us haue chekyns in pyke sauce [in oxigaro]. 1589Pappe w. Hatchet E b, I but he hath sillogismes in pike sauce, and arguments that haue been these twentie yeres in pickle. 1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 228 Now the fiercest Gunpouder, and the rankest pike sawce, are the brauest figures of Rhetorique in esse. 1727Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Egg, Bread 'em [eggs] with Crums..cover 'em with a Pike-hash and some scraped Cheese, and bring them to a fine Colour.
▪ XII. pike, v.1
Collateral form of pick v.1 (q.v. for examples), still in dialectal use in various senses. To this app. belongs the obs. expression to pike or pick a bow, the exact meaning of which is uncertain: ? to trim: = pick v.1 4 (or ? to point; cf. pike v.2).
1463Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 235 Item, payd for pesynge off bowys and ovyr-drawynge off bowis, and ffor pykynge off bowys, xxj.d. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 116 In dressing and pikyng it [the stave] vp for a bow. Ibid. 120 For thys purpose must your bowe be well trymmed and piked of a conning man that it may come rounde in trew compasse euery where. Ibid. 120–1 Pike the places about the pinches, to make them somewhat weker, and as well commynge as where it pinched, and so the pinches shall dye. 1579in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 403 Hit ys also agreed..that Nicholas Gosson [Bowmaker] shall frome henceforth be free of this Cytie, ffor the wch he shall..[inter alia] newe scoure and fether all suche arrowes as the twone howsse nowe hathe, and newe pycke all theire bowes wch have nede to be done.
▪ XIII. pike, v.2 Now rare.|paɪk|
Also 5–6 pyke, 6 pycke, 6–7 pick.
[f. pike n.1 2.]
trans. To furnish with a pike, spike, or (iron) point.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 45 Þere þe Affres closed hym in a streiȝt tree þat was þicke pikede wiþ ynne wiþ longe and scharpe nayles. c1440Promp. Parv. 397/2 Pykynge, of a staffe, or oþer lyke cuspidacio. 1530Palsgr. 657/1, I pycke a staff with pykes of yron, je enquantelle. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Enquantellé, Baston bien enquantellé de fer, a staffe well piked, or well grained, with yron.
▪ XIV. pike, v.3
Also 5–6 pyke, 6 picke, pycke.
[Orig. refl. to pike oneself, perh. = to furnish oneself with a pike or pilgrim's staff (cf. to cut one's stick): see pike n.1 3. Cf. Old Da. pikke, Da. pigge af to hasten off, Sw. dial. pikka åstad to make off. Another conjectural derivation is from F. piquer to spur.]
†1. refl. To make off with oneself, go away quickly, be off. Also with away. Obs.
c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1348 Then Reson hym commaundyd pyke hym thens lyghtly. 1470–85Malory Arthur ix. xliv. 411 And thenne anone that damoysel pyked her away pryuely. a1530Parl. Byrdes 254 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 180 When his fethers are pluked he may him go pike. 1530Palsgr. 656/2, I pycke me forth out of a place, or I pycke me hence, je me tyre auant..Come of, pycke you hence and your heles hytherwarde. Ibid. 770/2 Walke, pyke you hence, tire avant. 1535Coverdale 2 Sam. xix. 3 A people that is put to shame, pycketh them selues awaye. a1553Udall Royster D. iv. iii. (Arb.) 64 Auaunt lozell, picke thee hence. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 111 Into what place so euer H. may pike him, Where euer thou finde ache, thou shalt not like him. c1570Ane Ballat of Matrymonie 71 in Laing Pop. Poet. Scot. II. 77 He bad them then go pyke them home.
2. intr. To depart; to proceed or go; fig. to die. Also to pike it, and with adverbs. Now slang or colloq.
1526Skelton Magnyf. 957, I bade hym pyke out of the gate. 15..Jack Juggler (Roxb.) 16 Pike and walke, a knaue, here a waye is no passage. 1697W. Dampier Voy. round World (1699) 526 When..forced to lye down, they made their Wills, and piked off in 2 or 3 Days. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Pike, to run away, flee, quit..the Place; also to Die. 1724Shirley Triumph Wit (ed. 8) 154 We file off with his Cole, as he pikes along the Street. 1753[see lumber n.2 3]. c1789Parker Sandman's Wedding in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 65 Into a booze-ken they pike it. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Pike off! begone! 1846Swell's Night Guide 127/2 Pike off, run away. 1864‘E. Kirke’ Down in Tennessee xiii. 162, I piked off for the ruin. 1886Outing IX. 49/2 Tell ye what, jist climb onto my pony, an' we'll pike fer the spring. 1893H. Frederic Copperhead (1894) 191 It looked kind o' curious to me, your pikin off like that. 1900Ade More Fables (1902) 106 When all the Smart Set get ready to pike away for the Heated Term..she would remain at Home. 1902H. L. Wilson Spenders iv. 44 Do me a last favour before you pike off East. 1904S. E. White Silent Places vi. 50 ‘We'd better pike out, if we don't want to get back with th' squaws,’ suggested Dick. 1909R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins xvii. 207, I piked on over to Danders thinkin' I'd get on a train an' go somewhere. 1924P. Marks Plastic Age 18 Say, I've got to pike along; I've got a date with my faculty adviser. 1927H. Crane Let. 4 July (1965) 303 My old jack tar friend..was back from his long trip..so I just piked in and saw him.
3. intr. To shirk; to hold back; to back out; (see also quot. 1889).
1889Farmer Americanisms 420/1 To pike (Cant), to play cautiously and for small amounts, never advancing the value of the stake... Those who gamble in this fashion are called pikers. 1954A. Fullerton Bury Past i. iii. 47 Queer fellow—he worked like hell at the office stuff, the routine, the paper-work, and then suddenly when it came to the push, he'd pike, like he'd done tonight. 1959Numbers Feb. 13/1 ‘No dogs’, said Mr Reginald. ‘You wouldn't be piking, would you?’ Sonny murmured. 1969Southerly XXIX. 287 Ann's heart began to thump with her secret fear. She waited for someone to veto the idea, not daring herself. But no one did. She could not ‘pike’ out.
▪ XV. † pike, v.4 Obs. rare.
App. ad. F. piquer, in phrase to pike on the wind = F. piquer au vent, to sail close to the wind, to hug the wind.
1584James Melvill Autobiog. & Diary (Wodrow Soc. 1842) 169 Finding us contrare our course..he cust about and pykit on the wind, halding bathe the helme and scheit.
b. to pike up: (trans.), ? to sail close to.
1513Douglas æneis iii. v. 18 And wp we pike the coist of Epirus, And landit thair at port Chaonyus. Ibid. x. 99 The dangerus schaldis and coist vp pykit we.
▪ XVI. pike, v.5|paɪk|
[f. pike n.5]
trans. To thrust through or kill with a pike.
1798Hull Advertiser 22 Sept. 4/2 Many prisoners were taken out..and being carried to the camp were piked. The manner of piking was by two of the rebels pushing their pikes into the front of the victim. 1803Wellington Let. in Gurw. Desp. II. 327, I lost two horses, one shot and the other piked. 1874Froude English in Irel. III. x. i. 433 The day after the battle of New Ross a batch of [Protestant] prisoners was carried out from Wexford Gaol to Vinegar Hill, and piked in front of the windmill.
fig.1866W. J. Fitzpatrick Sham Sqr. 243 Giffard sought to stab with his pen, and pike with his tongue every friend to national progress.
▪ XVII. pike, v.6
[f. pike n.1]
trans. To lift with a pike.
1850Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. xii. 162 Others piking the pieces from one tub to another.
▪ XVIII. pike, v.7 dial.
[f. pike n.2 2.]
trans. To heap or pile up (hay) into pikes.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm III. 970 The reason that hay should be piked if stacked all in one day. 1896P. A. Graham Red Scaur v. 80 Tumbling among the cocks when hay was being ‘piked’. 1896Longm. Mag. Oct. 575 Come, let's be off; they'll be done piking directly.
▪ XIX. pike, v.8 Diving and Gymnastics.|paɪk|
[f. pike n.11]
a. intr. To adopt a pike position.
b. trans. To move (a part of the body) as for adopting a pike position. Cf. piked a.2
1956Kunzle & Thomas Freestanding iii. 36 When falling backwards with straight legs, first pike, then drop backwards. Ibid. 41 Roll over one shoulder with a half turn, tucking in the head and piking at the hips. 1964G. C. Kunzle Parallel Bars ii. 45 Pike the hips sharply..and press off the bar strongly with the arms.
▪ XX. pike
obs. form of peek v.1, to pry; peak v.3, to top a yard, etc. |