WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Turn"pike`
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [Turn + pike.]
Definition : 1. A frame consisting of two bars crossing each other at right angles and turning on a post or pin, to hinder the passage of beasts, but admitting a person to pass between the arms; a turnstile. See Turnstile, 1. I move upon my axle like a turnpike. B. Jonson.

2. A gate or bar set across a road to stop carriages, animals, and sometimes people, till toll is paid for keeping the road in repair; a tollgate.

3. A turnpike road. De Foe.

4. A winding stairway. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

5. (Mil.)

Defn: A beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage; a cheval-de- frise. [R.] Turnpike man, a man who collects tolls at a turnpike. -- Turnpike road, a road on which turnpikes, or tollgates, are established by law, in order to collect from the users tolls to defray the cost of building, repairing, etc.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Turn"pike`
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : Defn: To form, as a road, in the manner of a turnpike road; into a rounded form, as the path of a road. Knowles.

t. [imp. & p. p. Turnpiked; p. pr. & vb. n. Turnpiking.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913