pike

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pike1

▶noun (pl. same) a long-bodied predatory freshwater fish with long teeth. [Esox lucius and related species.]

■ used in names of similar predatory fish, e.g. garpike.

– origin ME: from pike2 (because of the fish's pointed jaw).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pike2

▶noun

• 1 historical an infantry weapon with a pointed steel or iron head on a long wooden shaft.

• 2 N. English (in the Lake District) a hill with a peaked top: Scafell Pike.

▶verb historical thrust through or kill with a pike.

– origin C16: from Fr. pique, from piquer ‘pierce’, from pic ‘pick, pike’; sense 2 is appar. of Scand. origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pike3

▶noun N. Amer. short for turnpike.

– phrases
come down the pike informal appear on the scene; come to notice.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pike4

▶noun a jackknife position in diving or gymnastics.

– origin 1920s: of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pike5

▶verb Austral./NZ informal

• 1 (pike out) withdraw from or go back on (a plan, commitment, or agreement).

• 2 (pike on) let (someone) down.

– origin ME (as pike oneself ‘take up a pilgrim's staff’): cf. Dan. pigge af ‘hasten off’.