Handspike
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A bar or lever, generally of wood, used in a windlass or capstan, for heaving anchor, and, in modified forms, for various purposes.
"I would not take a rood of land from Frederic to be appointed to a man-of-war to-morrow morning, for I looked on it as his (God grant it may be long ere he touch it!) ever since I was the height of a handspike."
- 2 a metal bar (or length of pipe) used as a lever wordnet
Example
More examples"I would not take a rood of land from Frederic to be appointed to a man-of-war to-morrow morning, for I looked on it as his (God grant it may be long ere he touch it!) ever since I was the height of a handspike."
Etymology
From hand + spike.
More for "handspike"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.