Word.ws English Dictionary

unspike

unspike verb: to remove a spike from.

Verb

unspike (third-person singular simple present unspikes, present participle unspiking, simple past and past participle unspiked)

  1. To remove a spike from.
    • To unspike a cannon, attempt to drive the spike into the bore with a punch; if this succeeds, and the bore be obstructed, introduce powder into the vent to force the obstacle out.1862, James Gilchrist Benton, A Course of Instruction in Ordnance and Gunnery, page 261
    • However, neither the wording of the agreement nor the conduct of the parties under it lends support to the proposition that Signal Maintainers have a right either to demand that they be allowed to unspike and spike hand switches or that they be compensated when an employee of some other class...1940, United States. National Railroad Adjustment Board, Awards - Third Division, National Railroad Adjustment Board, page 470
  2. To make or become less spiky.
    • He can easily unspike his hair and float the skateboard down the river.2010, Peter Helton, Falling More Slowly
    • Josie had interviewed Colt for an evening dispatcher's position about a year ago, but the girl had refused to unspike her hair or remove her facial piercings.2011, Tricia Fields, The Territory: A Mystery, page 81
  3. To return to a normal level after a very high spike.
    • The applied (or absorbed) microwave power in the plasma does not appear to have a first order affect on the conditions at which the plasma either spikes or unspikes.1993, John L. Power, Preliminary Investigation of High Power Microwave Plasmas, page 7
    • And everybody thought for sure that this woman would never, ever leave the hospital. That she'd never unspike [ return to normal body temperature ], that she'd develop antibiotic-resistant germs, that she couldn't have physical therapy, couldn't have her wound handled couldn't have this stuff done.2001, Nicholas A. Christakis, Death Foretold: Prophecy and Prognosis in Medical Care, page 174
  4. To neutralize the alcohol (or other adulterant) in a food, drink, or other substance.
    • HOW TO UNSPIKE OUR SWEETS Our spiked desserts ( pages 104-105 ) have real punch!1984, Red Book - Volume 163

Noun

unspike (plural unspikes)

  1. An instance of unspiking (any sense).
    • This included an unspike oxygen uptake of mixed liquor, and a mixed liquor sample spiked with 10% by volume primary effluent.1980, John M Bell, Proceedings: Purdue University Industrial Waste Conference, page 769
    • The sonogram and the cardiogram chart reflect the forward push of the heart shoving the blood through the veins: the unspike.2013, Richard H. Palmquist, Einstein, Money and Contentment, page 55

Examples of unspike in a sentence

  • It became necessary to move out some of the stored cars, and the carrier used a track foreman to unspike the switch.1941, Harry Edwin Jones, Inquiry of the Attorney General's Committee on Administrative Procedure Relating to the National Railroad...
  • Machine automatically unspikes the old bag and spikes the new bag .1994, FDA Enforcement Report, page 6:
  • Unspike me , friend - withdraw the iron restraints of the law and see how quickly I will kneel [upon the body of some one whom I hate.2001, Ambrose Bierce, David E. Schultz, S. T. Joshi, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary, page 256:
  • Her hair was beginning to unspike, and her clothes were plastered to her like a second skin.2017, Jill Shalvis, A Royal Mess:

Forms of unspike

Verb
third-person singular presentunspikes
present participleunspiking
past participleunspiked
pastunspiked
Noun
pluralunspikes

Origin of unspike

From un- + spike.

Questions about unspike

What does unspike mean?
Unspike means to remove a spike from.
How do you use unspike in a sentence?
It became necessary to move out some of the stored cars, and the carrier used a track foreman to unspike the switch.
What part of speech is unspike?
Unspike can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of unspike?
The past tense of unspike is unspiked.

Words near unspike in the dictionary

  1. unspiculated
  2. unspicy
  3. unspide
  4. unspied
  5. unspigoted
  6. unspike
  7. unspiked
  8. unspikes
  9. unspiking
  10. unspiky
  11. unspill

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unspike (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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