Skip to main content
PlainSpell

pike

/paɪk/noun, verb

pike is spelled P-I-K-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pike means “A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pike is pikes.

How many letters and syllables are in pike?

Letters4: P-I-K-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pike?

Pike appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pike?

  • US /paɪk/

Pike has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pike.ogg, En-au-pike.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with pike

Also written: turnpike.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with pike?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pike from its last stressed vowel (/aɪk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: kepi.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pike

  • pikes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • piking participle, present
  • piked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pike mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.

  2. 2

    A sharp, pointed staff or implement.

  3. 3

    A large haycock (“conical stack of hay left in a field to dry before adding to a haystack”).

  4. 4

    Any carnivorous freshwater fish of the genus Esox, especially the northern pike, Esox lucius.

  5. 5

    A position with the knees straight and a tight bend at the hips with the torso folded over the legs, usually part of a jack-knife.

  6. 6

    datedA pointy extrusion at the toe of a shoe.

  7. 7

    datedA style of shoes with pikes, popular in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.

  8. 8

    Especially in place names: a hill or mountain, particularly one with a sharp peak or summit.

    Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England.

  9. 9

    USClipping of turnpike.

    They tried out every idea that came down the pike.

  10. 10

    derogatoryslangA gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller from any ethnic background; a pikey.

verb

  1. 1

    To prod, attack, or injure someone with a pike.

  2. 2

    To assume a pike position.

  3. 3

    To bet or gamble with only small amounts of money.

  4. 4

    AustraliaslangOften followed by on or out: to quit or back out of a promise.

    Don’t pike on me like you did last time!

  5. 5

    To equip with a turnpike.

  6. 6

    UKobsoleteTo depart or travel (as if by a turnpike), especially to flee, to run away.

noun

as Pike
  1. 1

    USslangA member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pike in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpique (long spear), brochet (fish of the genus Esox), fermeture (diving or gymnastics position)
GermanPike (long spear), Hecht (fish of the genus Esox)
Portuguesepique, chuço (long spear), lúcio (fish of the genus Esox)
Spanishpica (long spear), lucio (fish of the genus Esox)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pike come from?

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pike