Spike - Definition and Overview

The word "spike"

The word spike can refer to:

• An Israel-developed guided anti-tank missile spike (missile).
• A sharp object like a nail:
  • spiked shoes worn by athletes, which provide more traction.
  • large spikes used to secure railroad rails to the wooden ties
  • the Golden Spike, driven at Promontory Point in Utah on 1869 May 10, joining the first trans-continental railroad in North America
• An upswing in activity, shown by a spike on a graph or chart:
  • a spike, a short electrical pulse (See: surge suppressor, transient voltage)
  • a spike in the crime rate, birth rate, cancer rate, or other rate
• To "spike" a drink is a term meaning to add something to it, usually adding to the effect of an alcoholic drink, and often unknown to the person drinking it. See also date rape drugs.
• An unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence (Botanical) with sessile flowers arranged along the axis. Compare with raceme.
• The Spire of Dublin, a massive needle-like structure erected in Dublin in 2003, is widely known as The Spike
• Spike TV is the new name of The National Network, originally The Nashville Network (TNN).

The name "Spike"

Real people named, or nicknamed, Spike include:

• filmmaker Spike Lee
• filmmaker Spike Jonze
• satirist Spike Jones
• satirist Spike Milligan
• jazz musician Spike Robinson

Many fictional characters have been called Spike:

• Spike Spiegel, in a Japanese animation, Cowboy Bebop
• Spike, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Spike, Fonzie's cousin in Happy Days
• Spike Fumo, in Spike of Bensonhurst
• Spike, in Degrassi Junior High
• Spike Thomson, in Press Gang
• Spike, a member of the Screws Gang in Medabots

Cartoon dogs named "Spike":

• Spike, the family pet in Rugrats (voiced by Bruce Willis in the spin-off movie Rugrats Go Wild)
• Spike, Snoopy's brother in Peanuts
• Spike, Tom's nemesis in the theatrical cartoon series Tom and Jerry
• Spike, Droopy's nemesis in Tex Avery's Droopy theatrical cartoon series.

The title "Spike"

Spike is the title of:

• Spike, a 1989 album by Elvis Costello
• Spike, a 2001 album by Puffy AmiYumi
• Spike, a 2001 album by P. Diddy
• The Spike, a 1980 novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave, former editor of The Washington Times
• The Spike, a 1997 (revised 2001) book by Damien Broderick

See also: Spike (album)