Spiderwort
(Spi"der*wort`) n. (Bot.) An American endogenous plant with long linear leaves and ephemeral
blue flowers. The name is sometimes extended to other species of the same genus.
Spied
(Spied) imp. & p. p. of Spy.
Spiegeleisen
(||Spie"gel*ei`sen) n. [G. spiegel mirror + eisen iron.] See Spiegel iron.
Spiegel iron
(Spie"gel i`ron) [G. spiegel mirror + E. iron.] (Metal.) A fusible white cast iron containing
a large amount of carbon (from three and a half to six per cent) and some manganese. When the manganese
reaches twenty-five per cent and upwards it has a granular structure, and constitutes the alloy ferro
manganese, largely used in the manufacture of Bessemer steel. Called also specular pig iron, spiegel,
and spiegeleisen.
Spight
(Spight) n. & v. Spite. [Obs.] Spenser.
Spight
(Spight), n. A woodpecker. See Speight. [Obs.]
Spignel
(Spig"nel) n. (Bot.) Same as Spickenel.
Spignet
(Spig"net) n. [Corrupted fr. spikenard.] (Bot.) An aromatic plant of America. See Spikenard.
Spigot
(Spig"ot) n. [From spick,or spike; cf. Ir. & Gael. spiocaid a spigot, Ir. spice a spike. See
Spike.] A pin or peg used to stop the vent in a cask; also, the plug of a faucet or cock.
Spigot and faucet joint, a joint for uniting pipes, formed by the insertion of the end of one pipe, or
pipe fitting, into a socket at the end of another.
Spigurnel
(Spi*gur"nel) n. (Eng. Law) Formerly the title of the sealer of writs in chancery. Mozley &
W.
Spike
(Spike) n. [Akin to LG. spiker, spieker, a large nail, D. spijker, Sw. spik, Dan. spiger, Icel.
spik; 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.
2. Anything resembling such a nail in shape.
He wears on his head the corona radiata . . . ; the spikes that shoot out represent the rays of the sun.
Addison. 3. An ear of corn or grain.
4. (Bot.) A kind of flower cluster in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated
axis.
Spike grass (Bot.), either of two tall perennial American grasses (Uniola paniculata, and U. latifolia)
having broad leaves and large flattened spikelets. — Spike rush. (Bot.) See under Rush. — Spike
shell (Zoöl.), 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.]
Spike
(Spike), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spiked ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spiking.]
1. To fasten with spikes, or long, large nails; as, to spike down planks.
2. To set or furnish with spikes.
