spike

Word family

spike1 /spaɪk/ noun [countableC]

1. SHARPsomething long and thin with a sharp point, especially a pointed piece of metal 金属钉状物；尖状物

2 [usually singular] a sudden large increase in the number or rate of something 〔数量或比率的〕激增

spike in

a spike in interest rates

利率的大幅上调

3. spikes [plural]DCC shoes with metal points on the bottom, worn by people who run races, play golf etc 钉鞋

4. spike heels [plural] a pair of women’s shoes with very high thin heels 细高跟鞋

Examples from the Corpus

spike heels• Marie said and hung up quickly as Astrid teetered back into the office on her gold spike heels.• And then Doreen entered the dining-room, walking carefully on her high spike heels.• Set off the look with a pair of high spiked heels.• If I were you I'd change those spike heels for walking shoes and explore the place.

Examples from the Corpus

spike• In the last six months, there has been a spike in unemployment.• Inside the wool moved ships, and we could see the tips of their masts travelling above the fog like disembodied spikes.• Graceful spikes of lords-and-ladies pushed up through the earth below white-blossomed blackthorn.• A row of spikes lined the top of the wall.• The bottom line is, the latest price spike has left motorists feeling angry and political leaders looking for somebody to blame.• From the centre of the rosette sprang a single five-inch stalk with a small spike of closed white flowers at its end.• His head must have fallen almost directly on top of one of the tall spikes that surmounted the old iron rail.• Who can forget the rage, the gait, the spike jammed into the fringed brow, the smoldering eyes?• In the street below the house with the dome people were pausing to look up at the arrows in the spike.• What would some one have thought, had he looked on the seat and seen those spikes there?

Related topics: Drink

spike2 verb

1 DFD[transitiveT] to secretly add strong alcohol or a drug to someone’s drink or food 在…里偷偷掺入〔烈酒或药物〕

spike something with something

The orange juice had been spiked with gin.

这橙汁里掺了杜松子酒。

2 [intransitiveI] if the number or rate of something spikes, it increases quickly and by a large amount 激增

New telephone orders have spiked in the last two years.

新装电话订单在过去两年里激增。

3. PUSH[transitiveT] to push a sharp tool or object into something 〔把尖物〕刺进，扎入

4 PREVENT[transitiveT] to prevent someone from saying something or printing something in a newspaper 阻止…在报纸上发表〔言论〕

a clumsy attempt to spike rumours of a cabinet split

企图阻止在报纸上传播内阁分裂谣言的笨拙做法

a) spike the ball American EnglishAmE to powerfully throw an American football down on the ground to celebrate a touchdown 摔球触地〔美式橄榄球中，触地得分后把球用力摔在地上表示庆贺〕

b) [intransitiveI, transitiveT] to powerfully hit a volleyball down over the net 〔排球中在网上〕大力扣球

6. spike somebody’s guns British EnglishBrEPREVENT to spoil an opponent’s plans 打乱[破坏]对手的计划

Examples from the Corpus

spike• New telephone line orders have spiked in the last two years.• The gas tax rollback, initiated because gasoline prices spiked this spring, has since fallen by the wayside.• Anti-logging activists often spike trees to prevent them from being cut down.• She was looking particularly uncompromising today, tired and pale, her dark, short hair spiking up at the back.• In 1987, Mr Salvigsen again hit a home run when he forecast that interest rates would spike up.• James Harper, defending, said Colling believed his drinks had been spiked with a narcotic substance which caused his violent behaviour.• Endless bowls of hot tortilla chips are accompanied by a fresh salsa spiked with just the right amount of cilantro.• And when I hummed old tunes that soothed my baby sister something in them spiked your grief to howling.

Origin spike1

(1200-1300) Probably from Middle Dutch

spike1 nounspike2 verb

Chinese

Corpus