to spike
1
6.3
- verb
- /spaɪk/
- Specialized
:
echar espigas
- As the weather warmed, the daisies started to spike, their stems reaching towards the sun.
- plants spike
Examples
-
Flower spikes.
Fiction book (1994) -
The wheat plants spike as they grow taller, developing beautiful golden heads that signal ripeness.
-
By fostering the growth of these and other thorny, spiked plants on terrace walls, residents also could have gained privacy and separated domestic space from that of neighbors, much as cactus fences are used in villages today.
Academic text (2002) -
In early spring, the tulips began to spike from the ground, promising a vibrant display of color.
Synonyms
To produce a long stem with flowers or buds
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
A grass-like wetland plant with thin round stems that spreads along the ground
A small wild orchid with thin reddish brown stems and loose clusters of reddish brown flowers in brushy woods
- Specialized
A water plant with thin leaves kept in aquariums to give oxygen to the water
A small evergreen shrub that grows flat like a mat with stiff stems and small bell-shaped flowers
- Specialized
A device that protects electronic equipment from sudden power surges
- Specialized
A small microphone placed against a wall that picks up sounds on the other side
- Specialized
A small pointed microphone that you press against a wall to hear sounds in the next room
- Specialized
A small plant like moss that grows close to the ground in damp, shady places
How Thin
Surface Forms
Etymology
To spike (of a plant) to send up a spike comes from the image of a stem growing into a tall point from spík 'pointed stick'. So when a plant 'spikes' it puts up a long, pointed flowering stalk.