'Spike grass' definitions:

Definition of 'Spike grass'

From: GCIDE
  • Spike \Spike\, n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D. spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel. sp[imac]k; all perhaps from L. spica a point, an ear of grain; but in the sense of nail more likely akin to E. spoke of a wheel. Cf. Spine.]
  • 1. A sort of very large nail; also, a piece of pointed iron set with points upward or outward. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Anything resembling such a nail in shape. [1913 Webster]
  • He wears on his head the corona radiata . . .; the spikes that shoot out represent the rays of the sun. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. An ear of corn or grain. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Bot.) A kind of flower cluster in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis. [1913 Webster]
  • Spike grass (Bot.), either of two tall perennial American grasses (Uniola paniculata, and Uniola latifolia) having broad leaves and large flattened spikelets.
  • Spike rush. (Bot.) See under Rush.
  • Spike shell (Zool.), any pteropod of the genus Styliola having a slender conical shell.
  • Spike team, three horses, or a horse and a yoke of oxen, harnessed together, a horse leading the oxen or the span. [U.S.] [1913 Webster]