Definition of "marlinespike" []

• Nautical A pointed metal spike, used to separate strands of rope or wire in splicing. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She took two long steps and seized the marlinespike, yanking it off the desk in a shower of rubbish and clanging oddments."
• "A piece of wood showed among the rubble on the desk, the blunt end of a marlinespike."
• "She kept hold of the marlinespike, but her wrists quivered, and she lowered it."