different between pike vs gaff

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /pa?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English p?c (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *p?kaz, *p?k? (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning.

The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, and possibly Old Irish p?k. It is a doublet of pique.

The diving or gymnastics position is probably from tapered appearance of the body when the position is executed.

The carnivorous freshwater fish is probably derived from the “sharp point, spike” senses, due to the fish’s pointed jaws.

The verb sense “to quit or back out of a promise” may be from the sense of taking up pilgrim's staff or pike and leaving on a pilgrimage; and compare Middle English p??ken (“to go, remove oneself”) and Old Danish pikke af (“to go away”).

Noun

pike (plural pikes)

1. (military, historical) A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.
2. A sharp point, such as that of the weapon.
3. A large haycock (“conical stack of hay left in a field to dry before adding to a haystack”).
4. Any carnivorous freshwater fish of the genus Esox, especially the northern pike, Esox lucius.
5. (diving, gymnastics) A position with the knees straight and a tight bend at the hips with the torso folded over the legs, usually part of a jack-knife. [from 1920s]
6. (fashion, dated) A pointy extrusion at the toe of a shoe.
7. (chiefly Northern England) Especially in place names: a hill or mountain, particularly one with a sharp peak or summit.
8. (obsolete) A pick, a pickaxe.
9. (obsolete, Britain, dialectal) A hayfork.
10. (obsolete, often euphemistic) A penis.
11. (historical) A style of shoes with long toes, very popular in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Synonyms

• (the fish species Esox lucius): see northern pike

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

pike (third-person singular simple present pikes, present participle piking, simple past and past participle piked)

1. (transitive) To prod, attack, or injure someone with a pike.
2. (transitive, intransitive, diving, gymnastics) To assume a pike position.
3. (intransitive, gambling) To bet or gamble with only small amounts of money.
4. (intransitive, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Often followed by on or out: to quit or back out of a promise.

Derived terms

• piker
• pikey

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of turnpike (“a toll road, especially a toll expressway; a spiked barrier across a road, originally used to block access to the road until toll had been paid”).

Noun sense 2 (“gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller”) and verb sense 2 (“to depart, travel, especially to flee, run away”) may refer to someone frequently using turnpikes, or may be derived from Middle English p??ken (“to go, remove oneself”).

Noun

pike (plural pikes)

1. Short for turnpike.
2. (derogatory, slang) A gypsy, itinerant tramp, or traveller from any ethnic background; a pikey.

Translations

Verb

pike (third-person singular simple present pikes, present participle piking, simple past and past participle piked)

1. (intransitive) To equip with a turnpike.
2. (intransitive, obsolete, Britain, thieves' cant) To depart or travel (as if by a turnpike), especially to flee, to run away.

References

Anagrams

• kepi, kipe

Middle English

Noun

pike

1. Alternative form of pyke

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse píka.

Noun

pike f or m (definite singular pika or piken, indefinite plural piker, definite plural pikene)

1. a girl

Usage notes

Jente is the standard appellation for girl in Norwegian; pike may also be used, though it is seen as somewhat conservative.

Synonyms

• jente

Derived terms

References

• “pike” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??ke?/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

pike m (definite singular pikeen, indefinite plural pikear, definite plural pikeane)

1. alternative spelling of piké (“piqué”)

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Etymology 1

From Middle English gaffe, from Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf (“hook”), derivative of gafar (“to seize”), from Gothic ????????????????- (gaff-) derived from ???????????????????? (giban, “to give”). Doublet of gaffe.

Noun

gaff (countable and uncountable, plural gaffs)

1. A tool consisting of a large metal hook with a handle or pole, especially the one used to pull large fish aboard a boat.

   Synonym: hakapik

   • 1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod: a Biography of the Fish That Changed the World:

     When Leonard finally hauls up a cod of seventy-five centimeters, probably seven years old, a typical catch ten years ago, they all joke, "Oh my God, get the gaff!"

2. A minor error or faux pas, a gaffe.

3. A trick or con.

4. (nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.
5. A garment worn to hide the genitals.
6. (informal, uncountable) Clipping of gaffer tape.

Translations

Verb

gaff (third-person singular simple present gaffs, present participle gaffing, simple past and past participle gaffed)

1. To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.
2. To cheat or hoax.
3. (transitive) To doctor or modify for deceptive purposes.
   • 1993, Betty Lou Wolfe, ?Marian Jean Gray, The Way We Were: Reflections from the 1930's (page 23)

     When the operator began losing, he gaffed the wheel and then the patron had no chance to win. With his secret device an experienced grifter could stop the wheel at will on any number.

   • 1977, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (volume 46, issue 9, page 8)

     However, this apathy will quickly disappear if it is learned the friendly game involves marked (gaffed) cards.

   • 1989, Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (page 96)

     You will be using gaffed cards: a double faced card.

4. (slang) To gamble.
5. (transitive, informal) To affix gaffer tape to, or cover with gaffer tape.

Translations

Derived terms

• gaffer

Etymology 2

Perhaps from Old English gafspr?c (“buffoonery, scurrility; blasphemous or ribald speech”), from Old English gaf (“base, vile, lewd”) + Old English spr?c (“language, speech, talk”)

Noun

gaff

1. Rough or harsh treatment; criticism.
2. (dated) An outcry; nonsense.

Derived terms

• blow the gaff

Etymology 3

Unknown. Possibly from Etymology 1, via a sense of “a place that will be robbed” in criminal argot; possibly from Etymology 2, via a sense of "cheap theatre"; possibly from Romani gav (“village”) (whence German Kaff (“village”)).

Alternative forms

• gaf

Noun

gaff (plural gaffs)

1. (Britain, especially Manchester and Cockney, Ireland, slang, Glaswegian) A place of residence.

   We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.

Anagrams

• aff'g