WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pike
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F. pique; perhaps of Celtic origin; cf. W. pig a prick, a point, beak, Arm. pik pick. But cf. also L. picus woodpecker (see Pie magpie), and E. spike. Cf. Pick, n. & v., Peak, Pique.]
Definition : 1. (Mil.)

Defn: A foot soldier's weapon, consisting of a long wooden shaft or staff, with a pointed steel head. It is now superseded by the bayonet.

2. A pointed head or spike; esp., one in the center of a shield or target. Beau. & Fl.

3. A hayfork. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Tusser.

4. A pick. [Prov. Eng.] Wright. Raymond.

5. A pointed or peaked hill. [R.]

6. A large haycock. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

7. A turnpike; a toll bar. Dickens.

8. (Zo?l.) sing. & pl.

Defn: A large fresh-water fish (Esox lucius), found in Europe and America, highly valued as a food fish; -- called also pickerel, gedd, luce, and jack.

Note: Blue pike, grass pike, green pike, wall-eyed pike, and yellow pike, are names, not of true pike, but of the wall-eye. See Wall-eye. Gar pike. See under Gar. -- Pike perch (Zo?l.), any fresh-water fish of the genus Stizostedion (formerly Lucioperca). See Wall-eye, and Sauger. -- Pike pole, a long pole with a pike in one end, used in directing floating logs. -- Pike whale (Zo?l.), a finback whale of the North Atlantic (Bal?noptera rostrata), having an elongated snout; -- called also piked whale. -- Sand pike (Zo?l.), the lizard fish. -- Sea pike (Zo?l.), the garfish (a).
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913