mike
/ˈmaɪk/US[mɐɪʔk]
mike noun: a microphone. Also the alternative letter-case form of Mike from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
Noun (1)
mike (plural mikes)
- A microphone.
- "Then I say to the recording, for the record," I barked, right into the mike, […]1970, Theodore Sturgeon and Edward H. Waldo, "The Pod in the Barrier", in A Touch of Strange, Ayer Publishing, →ISBN, page 28
- Obviously, one must watch what one says in the vicinity of a microphone. More than one person has made a “private” statement in the presence of an open mike.1981, John Swaigen, How to Fight for What’s Right: The Guide to Public Interest Law, James Lorimer & Company, →ISBN, pages 118–119
Verb
mike (third-person singular simple present mikes, present participle miking, simple past and past participle miked)
- To microphone; to place one or more microphones (mikes) on.
- “And sometimes I’d just have to mike the room. You could run into some weird phasing problems with the individual mics because the speakers were all reacting differently.”1994 September, Jim Gaines, transcribed in Alan di Perna, "Step Lively: Recalling the recording process of SRV’s IN STEP with album producer Jim Gaines", in Guitar World Magazine, reprinted in Guitar...
- He knows me, I know him, and I know how he’s going to mike the drums and what selection of mic’s he's going to use.1996, J.R. Robinson, quoted in Mark Huntly Parsons, The Drummer’s Studio Survival Guide: How to get the best possible drum tracks on any recording project, Hal Leonard, →ISBN, page 72
- To measure using a micrometer.
- Measure Valve-Stem Diameter—To be positive about it you’ll have to mike the valve stem with a 1-in. micrometer as explained on pages 100 and 101.1983, Tom S. Wilson, How to Rebuild Your Big-block Chevy, HPBooks, →ISBN, page 98
Noun (2)
mike (plural mikes)
- A minute.
- We'll be there in one zero mikes [i.e. ten minutes].
Noun (3) capitalized: Mike
Mike
- A radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter M.
Noun (4) capitalized: Mike
Mike (plural Mikes)
- An Irishman, especially a labourer.
- […] very hard work, a holy day — & the boys went on to […] & took the Mikes, so I cd get no helper but Marty — had to set up Punch & Judy show — & when I proposed to decorate tree heard it was still in the woods! However John Rourke appeared & dug up a small silver, to be planted again […]quoted in 1996, Lady Gregory, James Pethica, Lady Gregory's Diaries, 1892-1902 (page 200)
- Gott strafe the roll-call, hurrah for the 'Mikes,' / Hurrah for the rebel boys that organised the strikes, / For everywhere the roll was called their names they didn't know.2006, Lyn Ebenezer, Fron-Goch and the Birth of the IRA, page 126
- Synonyms:
- mick
Proper noun capitalized: Mike
Mike (countable and uncountable, plural Mikes)
- A diminutive of the male given name Michael.
- West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin was not impressed with the executive orders, calling them a “troubling example” of executive overreach that “could harm us for generations.”2025 January 14, Leah Willingham, “West Virginia governor axes DEI and enacts vaccine exemptions on first full day in office”, in AP News, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2025
- A diminutive of the female given name Michaela.
Also used as
mike is also the alternative letter-case form of Mike from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
mike is also the clipping of microgram.
mike meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
mike in Hindi
- informal: microphone
- अणुभाष aṇubhāṣ, माइक māik
- to place one or more microphones on
- अणुभाषित aṇubhāṣit, माइक māik
mike in Tamil
- மைக்
mike in Marathi
- informal: microphone
- अणुभाष aṇubhāṣ, माइक māik
- to place one or more microphones on
- अणुभाषित aṇubhāṣit
mike in Urdu
- مائیک, مائک
More languagesFewer languages
- mike in Bengali
- মাইক, মাইককে, মাইকের কাছে
- mike in Telugu
- మైకు maiku
- mike in Malayalam
- മൈക്ക്, മൈക്, മൈക്കിലേക്ക്
- mike in Kannada
- ಮೈಕ್, ಮೈಕ್ಗೆ
- mike in Punjabi
- ਮਾਈਕ, ਮਾਈਕ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ, ਮਾਈਕ ਤੱਕ
- mike in Gujarati
- માઈક, માઇક, માઈક કરવા માટે
- mike in Odia
- ଅଣୁଭାଷ aṇubhāṣa, ଅଣୁଭାଷିତ aṇubhāṣita
- mike in Sanskrit
- अणुभाष aṇubhāṣa, अणुभाषित aṇubhāṣita
- mike in Nepali
- अणुभाष aṇubhāṣ, अणुभाषित aṇubhāṣit
- mike in Indonesian
- mik
Examples of mike in a sentence
- Bravo Six, this is Bravo Six Four. Stand by for ten mike report one dash three, over.
- Mike had to witness his dad achieve a platinum sombrero last night.
- You will have to be miked up at least ten minutes before we go on air.
Synonyms of mike
Forms of mike
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | mikes |
| plural | Mikes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | mikes |
| present participle | miking |
| past participle | miked |
| past | miked |
| alternative form | mic |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Mikes |
Origin of mike
Alteration of mic, clipping of microphone. Attested since 1927.
From translingual Mike, representing the letter m, from English Mike.
Shortened from Michael.
Words formed from mike
Phrases with mike
Words that rhyme with mike
Questions about mike
- What does mike mean?
- Mike means a microphone.
- What is mike in Hindi?
- Mike in Hindi is अणुभाष (aṇubhāṣ), माइक (māik), अणुभाषित (aṇubhāṣit). See Mike meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is mike?
- Mike can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce mike?
- Mike is pronounced /ˈmaɪk/.
- What is the plural of mike?
- The plural of mike is mikes.
Words near mike in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mike (page history and authors); Mike (page history and authors); mike (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mike (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mike.wav.
Cite this entry: “mike.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mike. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.