spiked

adj 1: equipped with long sharp-pointed projections especially

along the top of a wall or fence; "the fence was iron

and spiked along the top"

2: having a long sharp point

3: having alcohol added; "a cup of brandy-laced coffee"; "he

drank too much of the spiked punch" [syn: {laced}]

spike

To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a

(sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result.

The word is used in several industries; telephone engineers

refer to spiking a relay by inserting a pin to hold the relay

in either the closed or open state, and railroaders refer to

spiking a track switch so that it cannot be moved. In

programming environments it normally refers to a temporary

change, usually for testing purposes (as opposed to a

permanent change, which would be called {hard-coded}).

(1999-10-18)