Turnpike \Turn"pike`\, n. [Turn + pike.]
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.) 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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) |