pikes

Noun

pike (plural pikes)

1. (historical) A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.
   • An arme pike which a weake man maye use or handle very reddily with such force as a man will not thincke, and the same pike will also become a very good shotte at all tymes.c. 1558–1602, Ralph Rabbards, “[Letters on Scientific Subjects.] Ralph Rabbards to Queen Elizabeth. [MS. Lansd. No. 121. Art. 14.] A Coppie of Notes Delivered to Her Majestie by Raphe Rabbards.”, in...
2. A sharp, pointed staff or implement.
   • Each had a ſmall ax in the ſurcingle of his ſaddle, and a pike about fourteen feet long, the weapon with which he charged; […]1790, James Bruce, chapter V, in Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. In Five Volumes, volume IV, Edinburgh: Printed by J. Ruthven, for G....
3. A large haycock (“conical stack of hay left in a field to dry before adding to a haystack”).
   • On returning to the hayfield, "Where can Mr. Thorn be?" said Mrs. Merton: "I thought he was in the field." / Magenta and Solferino looked at each other; the haymakers had made a pike on top of the hay in which they had buried him. / "Mamma," said Solferino, "I believe he's under that pike!" / […]...1866, “Mixed Pickles. (A Sea-side Story.)”, in The Ladies’ Companion, and Monthly Magazine, volume XXIX (Second Series), London: Rogerson and Tuxford, […], →OCLC, page 44, column 1
4. Any carnivorous freshwater fish of the genus Esox, especially the northern pike, Esox lucius.
   • And now they begin to catch the pikes, and will ſhortly the trouts (pox on theſe miniſters), and I would fain know whether the floods were ever ſo high as to get over the holly bank or the river walk; if ſo, then all my pikes are gone; but I hope not.1711 March 10, Jonathan Swift, J[ohn] Hawkesworth, “Letter LV”, in The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin: […], new edition, volume XIII, London: Printed for Charles Elliot...

   Synonyms:

   ged, northern pike

5. A position with the knees straight and a tight bend at the hips with the torso folded over the legs, usually part of a jack-knife.
   • She sprang into the air and jack-knifed into a clumsy pike before following her hands into the water.2000, J[ames] G[raham] Ballard, Super-Cannes, London: Flamingo, →ISBN; republished London: Fourth Estate, 2011, →ISBN, page 167
6. (dated) A pointy extrusion at the toe of a shoe.
   • Thus the ſtatute of king Edward IV, which forbad the fine gentlemen of thoſe times (under the degree of a lord) to wear pikes upon their ſhoes or boots of more than two inches in length, was a law that ſavoured of oppreſſion; becauſe, however ridiculous the faſhion then in uſe might appear, the...1765, William Blackstone, “Of the Absolute Rights of Individuals”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book I (Of the Rights of Persons), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 122

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