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a naillike fastener, 3 to 12 inches (7.6 to 30.5 centimeters) long and proportionately thicker than a common nail, for fastening together heavy timbers or railroad track.

something resembling such a nail; a stiff, sharp-pointed piece or part.

a sharp-pointed piece of metal set with the point outward, as on a weapon.

an abrupt increase or rise.

a rectangular or naillike metal projection on the heel and sole of a shoe for improving traction, as of a baseball player or a runner.

spikes, a pair of shoes having such projections.

the unbranched antler of a young deer.

Botany.��a flower stalk.

a pointed portion of a continuous curve or graph, usually rising above the adjacent portion.

Volleyball.��a hard smash, hit close to the net, almost straight down into the opponent's court.

Slang.��a hypodermic needle.

to fasten or secure with a spike or spikes.

to provide or set with a spike or spikes.

to pierce with or impale on a spike.

to set or stud with something suggesting spikes.

to injure (another player or a competitor) with the spikes of one's shoe, as in baseball.

Volleyball.��to hit (a ball in the air) with a powerful, overarm motion from a position close to the net so as to cause it to travel almost straight down into the court of the opponents.

Football.��to slam (the ball) to the ground in the end zone, after scoring a touchdown.

to render (a muzzle-loading gun) useless by driving a spike into the touchhole.

to make ineffective; frustrate or thwart.

Informal.��

1. to add alcoholic liquor to (a drink).

2. to add (a chemical, poison, or other substance) to.

   The cocoa was spiked with cyanide.

Journalism Slang.��to refuse (a story) by or as if by placing on a spindle.

an ear, as of wheat or other grain.

Botany.��an inflorescence in which the flowers are without a stalk, or apparently so, along an elongated, unbranched axis.