SPIKE
What does "SPIKE" mean?
A thin, sharp-pointed piece of metal or other material.
Meanings
- A long, sharp-pointed metal object, such as a large nail. Iron spikes held the rails to the wooden ties.
- A sudden sharp rise in a value, then a fall. Web traffic showed a spike right after the announcement.
- A pointed projection, as on a shoe sole or a plant. Her track shoes left rows of spike marks in the cinder.
- To increase sharply, or to drive a ball forcefully downward (in volleyball). Prices spiked overnight; minutes later she spiked the winning point.
- To add alcohol or a drug secretly to a drink. Someone had spiked the punch at the party. informal
Word origin
From Middle English 'spik' (large nail), probably from Old Norse 'spik' or Middle Dutch 'spiker', related to a Germanic root for a pointed object.
Remember it
SPIKE: a long thin word with one tall letter (k) jutting up - the spike itself.
A little poem
The graph lay flat, asleep-
then one news-headline drove
a spike through the calm.
haiku
Wordplay
- Why did the data analyst love volleyball? Every chart had a spike he could explain.
What it teaches
A spike is the same shape whether it lifts you or punctures you; watch which direction it points.
Quick facts
What does SPIKE mean?
A thin, sharp-pointed piece of metal or other material.
Is SPIKE a valid word?
Yes — SPIKE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SPIKE?
SPIKE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SPIKE come from?
From Middle English 'spik' (large nail), probably from Old Norse 'spik' or Middle Dutch 'spiker', related to a Germanic root for a pointed object.
What can SPIKE teach us?
A spike is the same shape whether it lifts you or punctures you; watch which direction it points.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.