pikestaff
(ˈpaɪkstɑːf, -æf)
[In senses 1 and 2, f. pike n.1 1, 2 + staff: cf. ON. p{iacu}kstafr (13th c.), mod.Norw. pīkstav, MSw. pikstaff; in sense 3, f. pike n.5 Hence two distinct words, but often not capable of separation, esp. in the phrases in 4.]
1. A staff or walking-stick with a metal point at the lower end like an alpenstock. Now only Sc. Sometimes app. the wooden handle of a pick.
| 1356 in Riley Mem. Lond. (1868) 284 (Lett.-Bk. G. lf. 45), Pikstef. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 105 My plow-fote shal be my pyk-staf [MS. B pikid staf; A. vii. 96 pyk, MS. U pykstaf, MS. H pilgrimstaf] and picche atwo þe rotes. 1393 Ibid. C. vii. 329 Penaunce hus pyk-staf [A. v. 257 pike, piked staf] he wolde polische newe. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. xi (Wolf & Sheep) iii, With pykestaff and with scrip to fair of toun. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 212 He stands sollemnlie leaning on his pike staffe. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts i. (1704) 228/1 The Weapon is a Pike-Staff, such as Keepers and Warreners use for the guard of the Game. a 1776 in Herd Scot. Songs (1902) 109 Fare ye weel, my pyke-staff. 1816 Scott Antiq. iv, Setting his pike-staff before him. |
† 2. Part of a wagon or cart: app. the same as pikestower. Obs.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 The crosse somer, the keys and pikstaues. |
3. The wooden shaft of a pike (the weapon).
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Zagaye, is a staffe longer and more slender than a pike staffe, otherwise called Azagaye. 1642 Chas. I Answ. Declar. Both Houses 1 July 24 Gisarms (which were Pikestaves). 1904 Sir H. Maxwell in Blackw. Mag. June 754/2 Ash was the proper wood for pike-staves. |
4. In proverbial phrases. as plain as a pikestaff, an alteration of the earlier phrase as plain as a packstaff (in reference to its plain surface). Also as stiff as a pikestaff. to call a pikestaff a pikestaff = to call a spade a spade.
| 1591 Greene Disc. Coosnage (1592) 4 A new game..that hath no policie nor knauerie, but plaine as a pikestaffe. 1719 D'Urfey Pills III. 22 When a Reason's as plain as a Pike⁓staff. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xvii, When will you acknowledge that two and two make four, and call a pikestaff a pikestaff? 1851 H. Melville Whale iv. 30 Sat up in bed stiff as a pike-staff. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset I. xlii. 367 The evidence against him was as plain as a pike⁓staff. |