noun

• (by extension) Anything resembling such a nail in shape.
  "He vvears on his head the Corona Radiata, vvhich at that time vvas another type of his Divinity. The ſpikes that ſhoot out from the crovvn vvere to repreſent the rays of the Sun."
• (botany) A kind of inflorescence in which sessile flowers are arranged on an unbranched elongated axis.
• (informal, chiefly in the plural) A running shoe with spikes in the sole to provide grip.
• (volleyball) An attack from, usually, above the height of the net performed with the intent to send the ball straight to the floor of the opponent or off the hands of the opposing block.

verb

• (figurative, journalism) To discard; to decide not to publish or make public.
  "Nicolaas, or Nick, as the family called him, wanted to turn professional but an ear injury, sustained during the war, spiked his plans."
• (volleyball) To attack from, usually, above the height of the net with the intent to send the ball straight to the floor of the opponent or off the hands of the opposing block.
• (military) To render (a gun) unusable by driving a metal spike into its touch hole.
  "He jumped down, wrenched the hammer from the armourer's hand, and seizing a nail from the bag, in a few moments he had spiked the gun."
• (American football slang) To slam the football to the ground, usually in celebration of scoring a touchdown, or to stop expiring time on the game clock after snapping the ball as to save time for the losing team to attempt to score the tying or winning points.
  "to spike the football"