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spike

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.

A burst of extra voltage in a power line that lasts only a few nanoseconds. See power surge, power swell, sag and surge suppression.

(jargon)spike - To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result. The word is used in several industries; telephone engineers refer to spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the relay in either the closed or open state, and railroaders refer to spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved. In programming environments it normally refers to a temporary change, usually for testing purposes (as opposed to a permanent change, which would be called hard-coded).
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There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Dickens, Charles View in context
He did not dream of the spike in the saddle, nor, while the saddle was empty, did it press against him.
Michael, Brother of Jerry by London, Jack View in context
Snider again held aloft another trophy of the search--a metal spike and some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments.
The Lost Continent by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context
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