Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Spike \Spike\, n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D.
   spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel. sp[=i]k; all perhaps
   from L. spica a point, an ear of grain; but in the sense of
   nail more likely akin to E. spoke of a wheel. Cf. {Spine}.]
   1. A sort of very large nail; also, a piece of pointed iron
      set with points upward or outward.

   2. Anything resembling such a nail in shape.

            He wears on his head the corona radiata . . .; the
            spikes that shoot out represent the rays of the sun.
                                                  --Addison.

   3. An ear of corn or grain.

   4. (Bot.) A kind of flower cluster in which sessile flowers
      are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis.

   {Spike grass} (Bot.), either of two tall perennial American
      grasses ({Uniola paniculata}, and {U. latifolia}) having
      broad leaves and large flattened spikelets.

   {Spike rush}. (Bot.) See under {Rush}.

   {Spike shell} (Zo["o]l.), any pteropod of the genus
      {Styliola} having a slender conical shell.

   {Spike team}, three horses, or a horse and a yoke of oxen,
      harnessed together, a horse leading the oxen or the span.
      [U.S.]