Spike

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /spaɪk/

Definitions

1. A rapid rise in a quantity or level, a pointed projection used for puncturing or securing, and the act of clandestinely adding substances to food or drink are all encompassed by this term
2. This term describes a sudden elevation in figures, a sharp-pointed implement for piercing, and the covert introduction of a substance into a consumable item
3. A slender pointed object typically used to pierce or attach things ; a quick and large increase in the amount or intensity of something ; the hidden act of putting a substance into food or drink without consent

Etymology: The noun "spike" started out as a plain physical object: a sharp point, or a pointed stick or nail. Middle English borrowed it from Old Norse "spík", meaning a spike or a sprig, and that word traces back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning stick, splinter or point. Its relatives in the Germanic languages are telling: Dutch "spijker" and Swedish "spik" both mean nail, so the word long kept its association with fastening and pointed metal. The modern sense of a sudden sharp rise comes from the same picture of a sharp point. A graph line that shoots straight up looks like a spike, and the figurative use followed from that visual shape, so a spike in prices or temperatures is a sharp point on a chart. The verb came later, formed from the noun, and carries the same sense of driving something sharply upward or onto a point.

Synonyms: prick, point, sharp, spear, shard

Antonyms: base, flat, dull, blunt, smooth