Word.ws English Dictionary

handspikes

handspikes is the plural of handspike.

Meaning of handspike

Noun

handspike (plural handspikes)

  1. A bar or lever, generally of wood, used in a windlass or capstan, for heaving anchor, and, in modified forms, for various purposes.
    • I would not take a rood of land from Frederic to be appointed to a man-of-war to-morrow morning, for I looked on it as his (God grant it may be long ere he touch it!) ever since I was the height of a handspike.1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 292

Questions about handspikes

What is handspikes the plural of?
Handspikes is the plural of handspike.

Words near handspikes in the dictionary

  1. handsoming
  2. handsomish
  3. handspan
  4. handspans
  5. handspike
  6. handspikes
  7. handspinner
  8. handspoke
  9. handspokes
  10. handspring
  11. handsprings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handspikes (page history and authors); handspike (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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