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pike

pike

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

pike common name for the family Esocidae, freshwater game and food fishes of Europe, Asia, and North America. The pike, the muskellunge, and the pickerel form a small but well-known group of long, thin fishes with spineless dorsal fins, large anal fins, and long, narrow jaws with formidable teeth. There are five species in the single genus Esox, found in the lakes and streams of central and E North America. The muskellunge, named by the Native Americans, is the largest of these, averaging from 2 to 7 ft (61-213.5 cm) in length and from 10 to 20 lb (4.5 to 9 kg) in weight, though some may reach 60 lb (27 kg). Carnivorous and solitary except at spawning time, muskellunges feed on fish, frogs, snakes, and even the young of aquatic mammals and waterfowl. The American, northern, or great northern pike, Esox lucius, called jackfish in Canada, is also voracious, lurking in weedy shallows to ambush its prey. This pike, believed to be the same species as the European pike, is said to consume one fifth of its own weight (10-35 lb or 4.5-16 kg) daily. Although a prized game fish in its native habitat, it has been reviled as a pest with the potential to devastate other game species in areas where it has been introduced. The pickerels are smaller members of the family. The grass, or barred, pickerel rarely exceeds 1 ft (30 cm) in length and 1 lb (.45 kg) in weight; the larger Eastern pickerel is found in clear lakes and streams together with bass. Pikes are stubborn fighters and are valued as game fishes; their flesh, though bony, is delicious. The walleyed pike is really a perch . Pikes are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Clupeiformes, family Esocidae.

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Pike

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | | Copyright

Pike, type character in American humor, a genus of Western immigrant during the pioneering period of the mid‐19th century. The Pike characters were traditionally natives of Pike County, although this locality was variously assigned to Missouri, Arkansas, southern Illinois, northern Texas, or generally to the frontier area. A man from Pike County was usually depicted as an ignorant, suspicious backwoodsman, good‐natured as the butt of frequent jokes, but savagely acquisitive. His exaggerated, droll speech was characterized by an expressive, imaginative dialect. In Bayard Taylor's At Home and Abroad (1860), he is described as:
the Anglo Saxon relapsed into semi‐barbarism. He is long, lathy, and sallow; he expectorates vehemently; he takes naturally to whisky; he has the “shakes” his life long at home, though he generally manages to get rid of them in California; he has little respect for the rights of others; he distrusts men in “store clothes,” but venerates the memory of Andrew Jackson.The Pike as a specific character was launched in the works of George Derby, but it was not until 1871 that he became generally known to the reading public, through Harte's East and West Poems and Hay's Pike County Ballads.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Pike." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Pike." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Pike.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Pike." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Pike.html

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pike

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

pike1 / pīk/ • n. (pl. same) a long-bodied predatory freshwater fish (genus Esox, family Esocidae) with a pointed snout and large teeth, of North America and Eurasia. Its five species include the widespread northern pike (E. lucius). ∎  any fish with similar characteristics, such as the walleye. pike2 • n. hist. an infantry weapon with a pointed steel or iron head on a long wooden shaft. ∎ chiefly Brit. (in names) a hill with a peaked top: Scafell pike. • v. [tr.] hist. kill or thrust (someone) through with a pike. pike3 • n. short for turnpike. PHRASES: come down the pike appear on the scene; come to notice. pike4 (also pike position) • n. [often as adj.] a position in diving or gymnastics in which the body is bent at the waist but the legs remain straight.

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"pike." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Pike

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

Pike in California and other Pacific states of the US, a name given in the 19th century to a perceived class of poor white migrants from the southern states of the US; the name comes from Pike County, Missouri, from which the first people of this kind were said to have come to California.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Pike." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Pike." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Pike.html

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pike

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

pike Predatory, freshwater fish found in e North America and parts of Europe and Asia. It has a shovel-shaped mouth and a mottled, elongated body. Length: to 137.2cm (54in); weight: to 20.9kg (46lb) Family Esocidae; genus Esox.
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pike

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

pike1 large voracious freshwater fish. XIV. perh. of OE. date (being perh. repr. XI in place-names), and identical with OE. pīc point, pick, the fish being so named from its pointed jaw.
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T. F. HOAD. "pike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "pike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-pike.html

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pike

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

pike2 weapon consisting of a long wooden shaft with pointed head. XVI. — (O)F. pique.
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T. F. HOAD. "pike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Pike

A Dictionary of British Place-Names | 2003 | | Copyright

Pike (Píce) Laois, Tipperary, Waterford. ‘Pike’.
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A. D. MILLS. "Pike." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

A. D. MILLS. "Pike." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Pike.html

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pike

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

pike in U.S. history: see turnpike .

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pike

A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition | 2005 | | Copyright

pike Freshwater fish, Esox lucius.
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DAVID A. BENDER. "pike." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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pike

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

pike weapon: see spear .

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pike

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

pike3 short for TURNPIKE. XIX.
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T. F. HOAD. "pike." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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pike

A Dictionary of Zoology | 1999 | | Copyright

pike See ESOCIDAE.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "pike." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Pike

The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military | 2001 | Copyright

Pike see JS-3.
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"Pike." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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pike

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

pike •alike, bike, dyke, haik, hike, kike, like, mic, mike, mislike, pike, psych, psyche, shrike, spike, strike, trike, tyke, Van Dyck, vandyke •pushbike • motorbike • Klondike •Thorndike • Updike • hitchhike •crablike • lamblike •fanlike, manlike, panlike •trap-like • catlike • starlike • calf-like •glass-like, grass-like •branch-like • plant-like • thread-like •gem-like • deathlike • waiflike •vein-like • wraithlike • fiendlike •leaf-like • dreamlike • queen-like •sheeplike • witchlike • sylphlike •piglike •springlike, string-like, wing-like •lip-like • princelike • ladylike •businesslike • lifelike • childlike •Christlike, vice-like •knob-like •godlike, rod-like •doglike • rock-like • swanlike •foxlike • warlike • lord-like •horselike • globe-like •dome-like, homelike •ghostlike • rose-like • toylike •root-like • tooth-like • hood-like •wolf-like • hook-like •wool-like • suchlike • sponge-like •nunlike, sunlike •dovelike • lion-like • flower-like •soundalike • lookalike •statesmanlike • seamanlike •sportsmanlike • womanlike •workmanlike • fatherlike • worm-like •handspike • garpike • marlinspike •turnpike

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