spiky

adj

1. (not-comparable, usually)Of a plant: producing spikes (“ears (as of corn); inflorescences in which sessile flowers are arranged on unbranched elongated axes”).

   “[T]he harvest maids began to look knowingly to their partners, who, taking the hint, sprang to their feet, hauled up their sweet abettors, were mated in a moment, and commenced a dance among the stubble, so brisk, that the tall harvest of spiky wheat, standing by, rustled and nodded to them on its golden rods.”

   “[T]he irritation [hay fever] has generally been ascribed rather to the odour of sweet-vernal-grass and scented holcus than to the distinctive action of the pollen itself. The latter species is unknown in English meadows, but sweet-vernal-grass is familiar to most of us as the peculiar spiky plant to which new-mown hay owes with us the whole of its delicious fragrance.”

2. (comparable, not-comparable, usually)Of a plant part: resembling a spike of a plant (see above).

   “Of this kinde, there is founde an other, the Spikes, eares, or torches wherof, are very dubble, ſo as in euery Spyky eare, in ſteede of the little knappes or heades, it bringeth forth a number of other ſmal torches, wherof eche one is lyke to the ſpike or torch of great Plantayne. […] The ſtalkes [of the third kind of plaintain] be creſted or ſtraked, and beare at the toppe fayre ſpiked knappes with white floures or bloſſoms, like the ſpykie knoppes of the middle Plantayne.”

   “[D]iverſ hairy Stalks, about a hand breadth high, bearing every one a ſmall long ſpiky Head like to thoſe of the common Plantane, having ſuch like Bloomings and Seed after them.”

3. Having one or more spikes; spiny.

   “The ſpiky VVheels thro' Heaps of Carnage tore; / And thick the groaning Axles dropp'd vvith Gore.”

   “Three ornithischian dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of North America may be growth stages of the same one species. Dracorex is smallest and spikiest. Stygimoloch is medium-sized and has the longest horns. Pachycephalosaurus is the biggest and also the least spikiest, but it has the largest, thickest dome.”

4. Resembling spikes: erect and having sharp points; spikelike.

   “[I]f ten thousand of this spiky tree, the larch, are stuck in at once upon the side of a hill, they can grow up into nothing but deformity; […]”

   “At first, he slept heavily, but, by degrees, began to roll and surge in bed, until he rose above the surface, with his spiky hair looking as if it must tear the sheets to ribbons.”

   “Then he felt, not another crumpled rose, but a thorn; a dozen spiky thorns sticking into him in the most cruel manner.”

   “We see here how habits of handwriting continued to be stratified by social class and gender. Roundness, as with earlier secretary hand, was a signifier of trade – a spikier hand was regarded as more fitting for young ladies' personal letter writing.”

5. (figuratively)Of a person or their nature: difficult to deal with; abrasive, hostile, unfriendly.

   “a spiky personality”

6. (figuratively)Of a thing: not smooth; rough, sharp.

   “It started with Ron [Phillips] soloing on "He Wasn't Talking to Me," a quiet and wistful ballad that segued into the upbeat and spiky "Give Me a Man Who's Glad to Be Gay." This was a pride anthem about being gay with a few nudges at those carrying their closets with them to the bars (Straight looking marine seeks/straight looking cop to please/How straight can they look/when they're down on their knees?).”

7. (derogatory, figuratively, slang)Excessively high church (“practising a formal style of liturgy and emphasizing continuity with Catholicism”).

   “I wondered if this meant he was a spiky Anglo-Catholic, which seemed a little unlikely, given that Norfolk's spiky hotspots are well-known.”

   “That was when pink gin was still a favoured drink among Anglo-Catholics, and no self-respecting spiky curate could be without it.”