name · noun · verb · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/maɪk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, US:[mɐɪʔk]
homophone: mike
homophone: mic
rhymes with -aɪk
/ˈmaɪk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:M AY1 K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
A diminutive of the male given name Michael.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
name
Meaning 2
A diminutive of the female given name Michaela.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A microphone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
Examples
1970, Theodore Sturgeon and Edward H. Waldo, "The Pod in the Barrier", in A Touch of Strange, Ayer Publishing, →ISBN, page 28, "Then I say to the recording, for the record," I barked, right into the mike, [...]
1981, John Swaigen, How to Fight for What’s Right: The Guide to Public Interest Law, James Lorimer & Company, →ISBN, pages 118–119, Obviously, one must watch what one says in the vicinity of a microphone. More than one person has made a “private” statement in the presence of an open mike.
2007, John Sellers, Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 85, When the haggard bartender informed us that there would be an open-mike event later in the evening, I got my first sense that not everyone in Manchester cared about the music the city has produced.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Alternative letter-case form of Mike from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
Qualifier: international standards
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A minute.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
Topics: government, military, politics, war
Examples
We'll be there in one zero mikes [i.e. ten minutes].
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Clipping of microgram.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter M.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: World War II; joint US/RAF; World War II; joint US/RAF
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
An Irishman, especially a labourer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mick
Antonyms: none provided
9
verb
Meaning 9
To microphone; to place one or more microphones (mikes) on.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1994 September, Jim Gaines, transcribed in Alan di Perna, "Step Lively: Recalling the recording process of SRV’s IN STEP with album producer Jim Gaines", in Guitar World Magazine, reprinted in Guitar World Presents Stevie Ray Vaughan: Stevie Ray In His Own Words, Hal Leonard (1997), →ISBN, page 81, “And sometimes I’d just have to mike the room. You could run into some weird phasing problems with the individual mics because the speakers were all reacting differently.”
1996, J.R. Robinson, quoted in Mark Huntly Parsons, The Drummer’s Studio Survival Guide: How to get the best possible drum tracks on any recording project, Hal Leonard, →ISBN, page 72, He knows me, I know him, and I know how he’s going to mike the drums and what selection of mic’s he's going to use.
2006, Glenn Haertlein, Project Vectus, Lulu, →ISBN, page 108, “Zeb, is everything go on the AV equipment?” I heard Jim ask. ¶ “Yep,” Zeb replied. “I just need to mike him up.” [...] “All set,” he said once he clipped the wireless microphone to my shirtfront.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
verb
Meaning 10
To measure using a micrometer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1983, Tom S. Wilson, How to Rebuild Your Big-block Chevy, HPBooks, →ISBN, page 98, Measure Valve-Stem Diameter—To be positive about it you’ll have to mike the valve stem with a 1-in. micrometer as explained on pages 100 and 101.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
device for converting sound waves into electrical energy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
